Tattoo Tissue
by lumoscrimsom
Summary: The tattoos of an empty past mark Remus' body like scars which draw Sirius in like a moth to a flame. A spark between them kindles a romance, but will an interfering family and a blemished past get in the way of their happily ever after?
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: **Not mine, all JK's.

**A/N:** If I get enough reviews, you might just get another chapter ;)

Sirius shook the rain water from his hair as he entered the tattoo parlour, earning himself a slap on the arm from a laughing redhead and a roll of the eyes from her husband from behind the counter. He shrugged off his leather jacket and pulled a stool up to the counter to grin across at James and Lily Potter, throwing a wink to the latter and giving the former a hearty handshake.

"Haven't seen you here in a while, Sirius." Lily commented, her tone begging for answers as she held her tongue stud between her teeth with a smile, "_I wonder why_…"

Sirius grimaced, reaching into his jeans pocket to pull out a cigarette and his lighter before he threw his jacket over the stool and sat down with an exaggerated huff, "Was hoping you wouldn't ask about that."

"What, my best mate runs away to Paris with his fiancé and I'm not supposed to ask why he's back?" James asked dryly, pushing up the sleeves of his black top to reveal two sleeves of ink tattooed up both of his arms, tribal designs to match those along his collarbone and on the back of his neck. Then he pushed his glasses back up his nose and ruffled his hair, ruining any tough guy image he might have had, "Nice try. You weren't supposed to come back until next year. In fact, you've only been gone for three months."

"It's slightly warmer in Paris than in London." Sirius mused, lighting his cigarette and pulling on it slowly.

"And you're not wearing a ring." Lily observed, nodding at his hand and refusing to play along with his distractions, "I'm not sure you understand what eloping is, Sirius."

"Oh, can it, Lils." Sirius sighed, rolled his eyes, "It didn't work out. Bitch stole my credit card three days into our elopement and left a note saying that she's never loved me, but she had to get money somehow to get to her lover somewhere in southern Italy."

"Christ." James muttered, shaking his head as Lily laid a hand over his, "Sorry, mate."

"Save it." Sirius shrugged, tapping his ash into the tray on the counter, "We all know it was a marriage of convenience. We only left to piss my father off."

"How long have you been back?" Lily asked gently, recognising more emotion than indifference on his face, "Does your mother know you're back?"

"'Course not." Sirius scoffed, holding the cigarette between his teeth to run his hands through his wet hair, "And she won't until I've got a decent story sorted out. Got back about an hour ago, dropped my stuff off at the flat and came straight here."

"Do you want a drink or something to eat?" Lily offered kindly. Sirius shook his head, lifting his hands from his hair to raise his arms in a leisurely stretch. He was about to assure her that he was fine, seeing as first class flights tended to feed you quite well, but never got the chance as the door opened at that exact moment.

Sirius turned, lowering his arms slowly as his eyes landed on the customer in the otherwise empty shop. It was a man, about his own age, with brown, shaggy curls framing an inescapably attractive face with strong lines which bordered soft brown eyes with hints of amber and hazel. His nose was a little too long, but the feature suited him and made him more rugged, a look that might not have been achieved alone with his full lips and bright smile.

His eyes lowering, Sirius took in the white t-shirt, and the lack of a jacket in the miserable September weather, which was soaked through and clung to his body in a mesmerising way, outlining his defined chest and toned abdomen. Sirius lifted a hand unconsciously to take hold of his cigarette again and take a slow drag before dropping his hand to the counter, smoke billowing from between slightly parted lips as his eyes ventured lower, over the mouth-wateringly pronounced hips to the low-slung jeans, which were so sinfully form-fitting, he swore that he could see every muscle of man's legs contract and relax as he walked into the tattoo parlour.

"How you guys doing?" the man asked as the door closed behind him, breaking Sirius from his reverie when he heard the smooth voice that sounded like an audible smirk. The man blinked as water dripped from his hair and into his eyes and grinned at James and Lily, "Lovely weather we're having."

"Almost as good as summer." Lily agreed, leaning forward and propping her elbows on the counter to smile at the man, "Here for another inking, are you?"

"Why else would I be here?" the man laughed, coming to sit on a stool beside Sirius'.

"To enjoy our wonderful company, of course." James said, pretending to be affronted, "What's the pen this time?"

"Cheap biro." The man grimaced. James groaned, shaking his head.

"In this weather? I'd be surprised if it' still there." The bespectacled man sighed, "Right, wait here. I'll go scrounge a towel from the flat." He turned, pausing to slap Sirius' on the shoulder with a small smile, to go through the door behind the counter to head up to his and Lily's flat above the shop. Lily left to put the kettle on, convinced that both men would catch colds if they didn't get something warm in them that instant, leaving Sirius and the stranger alone.

Sirius found he couldn't stop his eyes from drifting towards the man, so he cleared his throat and spoke to distract himself: "I got caught in the rain, too." He kicked himself instantly – obviously, he'd been caught in the rain, he looked like a drowned rat.

The man turned his head, his chin resting on his palm. Luckily, he didn't reply to the brain-dead attempt at conversation. Instead, he stared at Sirius, his complexly coloured eyes boring into his own grey ones. Sirius found himself unable to break eye contact, not wanting to miss one moment of that intense, enigmatic gaze.

Slowly, the man's gaze left his to travel down Sirius' body and back up again. A sensual smile tilted the stranger's lips up and he dropped one eyelid into a wink in such a way that made Sirius feel like all of his previous flirting – however successful – had been child's play. A shiver ran through his body and suddenly he wanted this man, needed to have him, to know him. Was this what his women felt like when he first met them and seduced them?

"Remus, you can go sit in the chair. Here's your towel." James said loudly as he entered the shop again and threw the man – Remus – a powder blue towel and skirted around the counter to head into the tattooing area. Remus caught the towel and stood, retracting his gaze from Sirius, who let out a breath he hadn't realised he had been holding and lifted his cigarette to his mouth.

The smoke merely leaked from his slightly parted lips however, when he turned to watch James at work. Remus was standing beside James as they chatted and had taken his top off and was in the process of drying his torso, giving Sirius an almost unobstructed view of what looked like black, jagged scars lacing in unsystematic patterns across his back and looping around to his front. When he focused, though, the scars seemed to be words, a few dipping beneath the waist of his jeans. Never before had Sirius been so compelled to read.

-Break-

"Oh shit. Shit, _Remus_…"

The guy, Mark or whatever, shuddered and then collapsed on top of Remus, who closed his eyes and lay his head back on the pillows. He let out a breathy moan when Mark pulled out and rolled over to sit on the side of the bed and start searching for his clothes. Remus watched him and rolled onto his front as the other man pulled his clothes on quickly.

"That was great." Mark said, turning to Remus before leaving, "We should do this again. Sorry I have to leave so quick—"

"It's fine." Remus interrupted with a disinterested shrug. Rolling onto his side briefly, his picked up the black biro from his nightstand and offered it to Mark, "Why don't you write me a message? No numbers, no names."

Mark looked like he wanted to ask something, but changed his mind and took the pen. Remus watched his eyes rove over his naked body, adorned only with the etchings of his previous lovers. Words, whether they be kind, sexual or cruel, had been tattooed down his legs, along his arms, across his chest and stomach and on his back, some dipping lower than was proper. Mark chose a spot low on the back, of his hip and scribbled something, before dropping the pen and giving a hasty goodbye. The door slammed a moment later.

Remus yawned as he rolled up to sit on the end of the bed and reached to pull on his jeans, t-shirt and shoes without looking in the mirror to read the message – it was his custom not to read them until James Potter had inked them permanently into his skin. The method ensured that he wouldn't be able to scrub off negative comments.

The moment he heard the door bang close in the hall, Remus ran a hand through his mussed hair and exited his flat too, humming to himself as he locked up skipping down the stairs, out into the rain and down the street to the tattoo parlour only a hundred yards away from his home. The cold didn't have a chance to seep into him by the time he arrived, only managed to flatten his hair against his face and neck. He pushed open the door and stepped inside – it was pretty close to closing time, so the only people in there were James and Lily and some other guy sitting at the counter, who turned as he entered.

Instantly, Remus' eyes were drawn to the stranger, but his gaze only lingered long enough to catch him giving Remus a slow, almost deliberate once over. Trying to suppress a smirk, Remus stepped further inside and closed the door behind him and blinked the rain water from his eyes as his vision blurred, turning to smile at the owners.

"How you guys doing?" Remus asked, "Lovely weather we're having."

"Almost as good as summer." Lily smiled, "Here for another inking, are you?"

"Why else would I be here?" Remus chuckled, moving towards the counter to hop up onto a stool beside the other guy.

James gasped and acted offended, "To enjoy our wonderful company, of course. What's the pen this time?"

"Cheap biro." Remus answered, pulling a face guiltily. James groaned with a shake of his head.

"In this weather? I'd be surprised if it's still there. Right, wait here. I'll go scrounge a towel from the flat." James turned, stopping to thwack the other guy on the shoulder and then leave to go up to his flat. Lily smiled and went to put the kettle on, telling them both that they would catch colds. The guy beside Remus coughed awkwardly, which amused him.

"I got caught in the rain, too." He said sheepishly. Remus turned then, leaning his elbow on the counter and resting his chin on his hand, choosing not to reply to the awful attempt at conversation. The stranger's stone grey eyes caught his and then locked on, unblinking and slightly hooded. Remus let his gaze travel downward – leaving the high cheekbones and raven black hair cut to his shoulders, damp from the rain – to his broad shoulders, strong arms and perfectly sculpted torso under a tight, black _The Who_ t-shirt, which tapered down to narrow hips and spread legs clad in leather trousers. He lifted his eyes back up to the man's and gave him a wink and a smile, his mind instantly imagining how they would fit together. The stranger's strong arms wrapping around Remus' smaller body, those hips pistoning between his legs…

"Remus, you can go sit in the hair. Here's your towel." James announced as he came back. He tossed Remus the towel and wandered over to the chair. Remus stood, finally breaking eye contact with the stranger, who lifted his cigarette and continued to smoke distractedly, and followed James with a small smirk. He lifted his soaked through top off as he answered a few questions of James' about his latest squeeze.

"Right, you can lie on your right side on the chair and we'll get this done." James said, clapping his hands together. Remus nodded and lowered himself onto the leather chair as James reclined it all the way, allowing him to roll onto his side for James to see and work on the space on the left side of his lower back. The text curled around onto his hip lightly, Remus realised when the tattooist started to trace the message before he cleaned the area and started to ready his needle.

Remus lifted his gaze to the stranger sitting across the room and smiled when he saw the other watching him intently. His smile widened when he watched the grey eyes tracing the words across his body. Lily came back through with the tea, handing one cup to Sirius and keeping one for herself.

"I'll pour yours once James has finished." The redhead assured Remus as she walked around the counter to turn the open sign on the door to the closed side. Remus always liked to come to the shop late, he always got the privilege of staying after closing time and talking with the two people who had come to be his friends. The buzz of the needled started up and then came the sharp sting of it on his skin. Remus looked up when James got to work, meeting the other man's eyes, which had lifted from his body back up to his face. The stranger stood, murmuring something to Lily, and made his way to sit on the other stool beside Remus' chair, watching James work on him.

"You thinking about getting anything done, Sirius?" James asked, talking in that funny way he did when Remus could tell he had his tongue between his teeth as he concentrated. "Any more ink?"

_Sirius_, Remus thought, instantly fitting it to the man's appearance as he sipped his tea.

"I'm good for now." Sirius said with a shake of his head, lifting his right arm slightly and bringing Remus' attention for the first time, to the two intertwined black snakes. "I wouldn't mind a piercing, though."

Remus lifted his eyebrows in sceptical surprise; sure, Sirius dressed like a bad boy, with his rock bank t-shirt, his tight leather trousers and his _one_ tattoo, but he obviously came from a very different background, what with those aristocratic features and that posh boy accent. A piercing just wouldn't suit him.

"Ooo, I'll do it now!" Lily said enthusiastically, abandoning her tea to bound over, "I've had literally _no_ work today."

"Brilliant," Sirius grinned, setting his tea on the floor and reaching down to pull his t-shirt off.

"Whoa," James chuckled, pausing in his work on Remus, "What're you doing, mate?"

"I want my nipples done!" Sirius snorted like it was obvious, dropping his shirt on the floor. Remus swallowed at the sight of the other man's chiselled torso, at the pronounced abs and hardened pecs. "It's supposed to feel amazing during sex, y'know, when—"

"Okay, okay, we get it." James laughed, continuing on Remus as Lily snickered went to fetch her tools, "There we go, Remus. Done. Just let me put something over it." James scooted his stool over to the bandages and tape as Lily started to numb Sirius.

"You're sure about this?" Lily asked, picking up the piercing needle, "It's not just because you're upset about here, is it?"

"No," Sirius said dully, "Just do it. It...it'll be cool."

"You might want to hold onto something." Lil warned as James came back and fixed a bandage over Remus' newest tattoo – he still didn't know what it said, but that could wait. He lifted his hand and gave Sirius a half smile.

"You can hold onto my hand." He offered. Sirius looked at him in surprise as Lily and James exchanged an amused glance, before taking Remus' hand. Without any warning, Lily got to work and Sirius yelped, his fingers squeezing Remus' painfully.

"Christ," Remus hissed, "Do that again and I'll get them to pierce your dick. Show you what real pain is."

Sirius looked over at him in shock, pain forgotten, his eyes drifting down to Remus' crotch doubtfully. Then Remus winked to assure him that he was joking and Sirius gave a great, barking laugh that made Remus grin and want to hear it again and again, but it was cut off when Lily did his other nipple. James sniggered at the tight-lipped expression on Sirius' face.

"Are they bleeding?" Sirius asked timidly, making Remus laugh.

"No, you nancy." James laughed. Lily rolled her eyes and left to find some cleansing alcohol for him to take home. James wandered away muttering about tea, leaving Sirius staring down at his chest and Remus watching him, still lying on his side.

"Why the tattoos?" Sirius asked suddenly, startling Remus, "Some of them, they're…vulgar."

"Not my words." Remus shrugged with a wide yawn, "And before you ask, I'm nothing special. Got no drug problem, no abusive past. It's just what I do."

Sirius looked around at him then and caught Remus' gaze in intense grey eyes.

"Have you ever considered getting a name done?"

Remus searched his gaze and answered, "Not until now."


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: **Not mine, all JK's.

**A/N:** So I debated whether or not to actually write a second chapter, but I said I would and I got five lovely reviews, so here it is :) Ah, also, I've raised the rating to M, but that's just because I don't know where this is going just yet. When I do, I'll change it back if appropriate. Apologies if a higher rating has turned some people away from this story.

"So I thought I could, y'know, take you back to mine." Whatshisname was shouting in Remus' ear. It was loud in the club, so Remus understood why the guy was yelling, but did he really need to expel so much spit in his ear? He moved away a step to the side and wiped his ear with the sleeve of his skin-tight, navy blue, long sleeved t-shirt and turned to look at whoever had decided that coming on to him without even asking his name or buying him a drink would be a marvellous idea.

It was the sort of guy he would usually go for – tall, cute, a little hipster with those lens-less square glasses and the buttoned up shirt – but he just didn't do anything for him. Odd, but that was how it was. Remus grimaced, making his opinion of the bloke's poor chat up line obvious without bothering to say anything. Why waste his vocal cords on such a smarmy prat? The guy scowled at him, straightening up.

"If you don't want to be propositioned for sex, you shouldn't have 'magnificent shag' written on your neck." He snapped bitchily. Remus touched his neck absentmindedly where one of his favourite tattoos was written. It was one he was fond of simply because he found it amusing. Some posh private school graduate had written it.

"Oh, I love being _propositioned_ for sex," Remus smiled sweetly, stressed the 'p's and making sure to spit at the guy, "I just don't kiss guys who have a serious excess of saliva, mate. Really, you should get that checked out."

The guy huffed and flounced off. Remus rolled his eyes and turned his stool back around to face the bar again, signalling the bartender, a muscular black guy who wore tight shirts to get tips from flirting customers, even though Remus knew he was in a happy seven year relationship with another man.

"Bad luck again?" the bartender asked sympathetically, letting his colleagues deal with the packed bar as he took time out to talk with his friend.

"Not really," Remus sighed, resting his chin on his hand, "He was…well, a bitch."

"Aren't we all?" the barman chuckled, "Looked right up your street, though."

"Kingsley…" Remus sighed, slumping on the bar, "I don't suppose you know any biker guys? Not fat dudes with beards, like, pretty ones with long black hair."

Kingsley laughed and shook his head, "Sorry, mate. How come?"

"I met this one guy…I just need to shag him – or someone like him – get him out of my system and go back to what I do best."

"Sleep with the whole of London?" Kingsley provided with a wink.

Remus snorted and shrugged, "Something like that. The guy's seriously killed my game."

"Uh," Kingsley said in surprise, nodding to something behind Remus, "I think I find your biker."

"Wha—?" Remus started as he turned around to see what Kingsley was looking at, but he stopped when he clocked none other than Sirius from the Potters' tattoo parlour picking hi way across club with Lily. Remus blinked when Lily caught his eye and grinned. "Well, would you look at that?"

"That him?" Kingsley asked. Remus nodded and he gave a low whistle, "It's your lucky day, boy. God, if I didn't have Gideon…"

"Hands off." Remus grinned, turning to face Lily and Sirius as they approached, "He's mine. For tonight, anyway. Lily! Fancy seeing you here!"

"I know!" Lily exclaimed excitedly as she gave him a quick hug, "We're here to meet some old college friends. Oh, you remember Sirius?"

"Of course." Remus smiled, letting his gaze fall on Sirius, who was looking delectable in a white t-shirt that clung to him like a second skin, tight leather trousers and with his hair tied back. Sirius smiled back, one side of his mouth pulling up slightly. A rim of coal black liner circled his eyes, drawing Remus' eyes back to them. "How could I not?"

"Remus, right?" Sirius asked, holding out his hand.

"The one and only." Remus chuckled, taking the other man's hands. They held on for a moment too long for it to be a handshake and when they let go, Remus' palm tingled pleasantly. "What're you guys doing in a gay bar?"

"I thought that would be obvious." Sirius answered in a low purr that Remus could only just hear above the thumping music. Lily laughed suddenly, snapping Remus' attention back to her.

"We're here because Sirius is the only one out of us lot who hasn't got anyone." She explained, nudging Sirius in the ribs teasingly, "So we took pity on him and came here to give him a chance. The guys are waiting for us at a pub down the road. You know what men are like."

"Sure." Remus said distractedly, looking back at Sirius, who he found was watching him.

"Oh, there's Alice and Molly," Lily said, pointing to a booth over in the corner beside the packed dance floor, "I'll meet you over there later, Sirius."

"I think that was a painfully obvious hint to leave us alone together." Sirius chuckled, taking a seat beside Remus at the bar, "I'll get the drinks in, shall I?"

"What'll it be?" Kingsley asked, throwing a wink in Remus' direction. Sirius gave him their order, asking for Remus' usual.

"You obviously come here often if he knows your usual." Sirius observed, nodding his head towards Kingsley as he sipped his pint, "You two ever…you know?"

"What? Oh, no!" Remus laughed, shaking his head, "No, he's just an old friend of mine."

Sirius smiled again, setting his glass back down on the bar. He rested his chin on his hand and gave Remus a sideways glance, "Good. I'm not sure I could compete with him."

"He is pretty damn hot." Remus agreed, swallowing a good third of his rum and coke, "But not as hot as you are."

"You always this straightforward when you're chatting guys up?" Sirius asked with his bark-like laugh. Remus didn't answer, putting his glass down to turn and smile instead. Sirius shook his head in amusement, "I like it."

"Well, thank god for that." Remus said half-distractedly. He considered Sirius for a moment before asking, "If I asked you to go up and dance with me, would you run, or would you down that drink and go?"

Sirius smirked and tilted his head back in order to gulp down his beer in answer. Once the golden liquid was gone, he slammed the glass down on the bar and turned to Remus, his smile already slightly hazy around the edges. Remus shook his head and emptied his own glass, the double shots of Bacardi burning his throat on its way down, sending a warm thrill through his body.

Just when he was about to drag him onto the dance floor, Remus felt a gentle touch on the side of his neck. He leaned into the touch lightly, enjoying the feel of Sirius' hands on him, before looking to see his expression. There was no revulsion or delight there, the two emotions Remus hadn't wanted to see. There was only curiosity. He made a split second decision, urged on by the alcohol he had just consumed, and took Sirius by the hand. The other man was taken by surprise when he was dragged into the bathroom, but went willingly all the same. Remus stood in the stark white lights by the paper towel dispensers, watching Sirius watching him.

"I didn't pull you in here for a quick shag." Remus said suddenly, surprising himself with his own words.

"Well, that's a relief." Sirius joked, before sobering up to add seriously, "I don't do that sort of thing."

"I know," Remus replied, leaning back against the counter, "Lily told me you eloped with a woman a few months ago. What are you doing in a gay bar?"

Sirius rubbed the back of his neck in an awkward manner that came across as oddly charming, "Ah, right. She told you that. I've been with guys before, even if it has mostly been women in the past. After that bitch, I'm sticking with men for a while."

Remus tilted his head and smiled, watching Sirius as he looked at him worriedly. Reaching down to the hem of his shirt, Remus pulled it up to reveal his stomach to the other man, revealing the words that had so often been mistaken for scars by so many people until they had focused and realised just what they were. After that, they either jumped into bed with him, or ran in the opposite direction, flinging flimsy excuses over their shoulders.

Sirius did neither. He stepped forward and ran a finger over the one under his ear again, ignoring the others and pulling Remus' shirt down back over them, wearing a small smile the whole time.

"They don't bother you?" Remus asked curiously.

"I'll admit, I am curious to find out if this one's true." Sirius chuckled, "But no. Everyone's got a past, Remus. Yours is written there for me to see, is all."

Remus shivered as Sirius' touch swept over his skin once more and shook himself internally. What the hell was he doing, having almost-sentimental conversations in the loos of a bar, alone with an attractive guy? Where was his usual game, the charm, the obvious yet subtle seduction with which he drew men to him like magnets? This was definitely the first time that Remus had stood around and done nothing with such a fine specimen stood before him as fair game.

Sirius was watching him with laughing eyes and Remus suddenly realised that he didn't know how to kiss him. Of course he knew how to _kiss_ him, he just didn't know _how_ to kiss him. As soppy and sentimental as it sounded, Remus had felt a connection to the man the moment Sirius had opened his mouth and said those words, 'I got caught in the rain, too', and didn't want to ruin anything with his usual fast paced way of mapping out his usual 'relationships'.

"Whatever you're thinking, it certainly looks confusing." Sirius laughed, snapping Remus back to the present, "Care to let me in?"

Remus laughed with him, gathering his wits about him and giving Sirius a wide smile as he lifted his hands to knot his fingers in the soft material of the white t-shirt, the tight cotton turning translucent the tauter it got. He looked up from his hands into those grey eyes and lifted one shoulder in a shrug.

"I was wondering how to kiss you." He murmured, tugging on the t-shirt lightly. Sirius' grin softened and he stepped closer, bringing them flush together from their thighs to their chests, bringing a hand up to cup Remus' jaw gently.

"Why don't I show you?"

-BREAK-

"Sirius, if you touch your hair one more time, I _will_ beat you through the ground." James threatened, apparently without realising that he ran his hand through his own hair at the same time, messing it up in that habit that his wife despised. Sirius stuck his tongue out at his best friend and checked once more that his hair was still securely in its tie, several strands loose around his face.

"We'll see you later, honey." Lily smiled leaning in to peck James goodbye outside the club, "You're in the Den, aren't you?"

"Yeah, 'round the corner." James nodded, before laying his hand on Lily's stomach, "Remember, no alcohol. It's easy to forget!" he added when Lily rolled her eyes and Sirius laughed at the repetitive warning he had been hammering into them all evening before coming out, "Good luck, Sirius. Find a guy and stop whining about having no one. I don't think I can take any more."

Sirius punched him in the arm lightly before they parted ways, James heading further down the road and Lily pulling him to the bouncer on the door at the club. The bouncer seemed to know Lily – the little minx – and waved them straight through and into the thumping beat of _You Spin Me Round_.

"Oh, jeez," Sirius groaned, looking around at the packed club. The booths were all full, the bar was thriving and the dance floor was packed. "I knew the music would be shit."

"Aw, come on, this is catchy!" Lily laughed over the music, "Not everyone's into the punk rock scene, Sirius. Look, there's Molly and Alice in that booth. At least we're not the last ones here."

"I did _not_ spend that long getting ready." Sirius scowled as Lily started to push him further into the club.

"Yes, Sirius, you did. Honestly, it's a wonder you were ever straight, because I swear you've…" Lily trailed off and started to giggle in that infuriating way of hers. Sirius turned to her and lifted his eyebrows, holding up a hand soundlessly to some creep who was sidling up to him.

.

"What?" he asked, as the creep pouted and shuffled away. Lily pointed to the bar.

"Remus is here. On his own."

Sirius turned, already sporting a happy grin, to see the man he had been badgering his friends about for a week after meeting him in their shop. Neither would give him the man's number or address, insisting that it would be stalker like and too forward to not get the information from Remus himself. And there he was, sat at the bar and rejecting a hipster – complete with 'nerd' glasses – before turning back to the bar and summoning a bar tender. A very good looking, tall and muscular bar tender who laughed with Remus in a manner that Sirius considered overly friendly.

"Hands off." Sirius growled under his breath as he started towards the bar, unaware of Lily giggling as she followed him across the club. When he reached the bar, Sirius heard Remus telling the barman 'hands off' before he turned to spot them and stood up to give her a hug. Sirius hung back, suddenly feeling nervous.

"Oh, do you remember Sirius?" Lily was asking, drawing Sirius' attention back to the conversation. Remus assured her that he did and turned his intricately coloured eyes on him. Sirius watched those eyes drift deliberately over his body, lingering in places and making Sirius' pulse quicken. He smiled when Remus' gaze lifted again.

"How could I not?" Remus asked, his voice a little husky.

"Remus, right?" Sirius asked, deciding to play it cool, as though he hadn't been thinking about this enigmatic man for a whole week, and held out his hand for Remus to shake it.

"The one and only." Remus smiled with a musical laugh. Sirius tightened his hold slightly on his hand before letting go, feeling a little self-conscious. "What're you guys doing in a gay bar?"

"I thought that would be obvious." Sirius purred, making sure Remus was looking at him when he did. He was about to say something so sexily seductive that would sweep the other man off his feet when Lily interrupted with a loud laugh. Sirius glared at her as Remus looked at her questioningly.

"We're here because Sirius is the only one out of us lot who hasn't got anyone." Lily grinned, digging her sharp elbow in Sirius' ribs, "So we took pity on him and came here to give him a chance. The guys are waiting for us at a pub down the road. You know what men are like."

"Sure." Remus said, sounding distracted and unsure by Lily's random interruption. Sirius didn't look away when Remus met his gaze, silently wishing he was telepathic and could tell the well-meaning redhead to leave them alone. Luckily, she seemed to read the situation correctly and spouted some rubbish about spotting their friends and scurried off.

"I think that was a painfully obvious hint to leave us alone together." Sirius laughed as they took seats at the bar, "I'll get the drinks in, shall I?"

The tall barman came over and threw a wink at Remus before asking for their orders, walking away to get Sirius a beer and whatever Remus' usual was. Sirius narrowed his eyes when the barman walked away, "You obviously come here often if he knows your usual. You two ever…you know?"

"What? Oh, no!" Remus snorted in amusement, "No, he's just an old friend of mine."

"Good. I'm not sure I could compete with him."

"He is pretty damn hot." Remus agreed as he gulped a good portion of his drink down, making Sirius clench his jaw jealously, "But not as hot as you are."

Sirius laughed delightedly, instantly mollified, "You always this straightforward when you're chatting guy up?"

Remus smiled at him, looking as mysterious and unobtainable as ever.

"I like it."

"Well thank god for that." Remus said, his smile fading a little as he continued to look Sirius in the eye, "If I asked you to go up and dance with me, would you run, or would you down that drink and go?"

Sirius s laughed inwardly as the preposterous question and threw his drink back with the practised ease of a young man only just leaving his irresponsible partying years behind. He set the glass down with a little too much enthusiasm and watched Remus down his own drink with a happy smile, feeling warm after the pint of beer. Just as he was about to stand and lead the way to the dance floor, he glanced over at Remus and noticed words tattooed on his neck just under his ear.

_Magnificent shag_, he thought in amusement as he reached out to touch it. When his fingertips touched the soft skin, he blinked as though he hadn't meant to do it. Remus leaned into his hand and looked at him with question in his eyes. Sirius remembered the other tattoos that he had spied in James' parlour and understood that he was being silently interrogated, so he made sure that his expression showed only his genuine curiosity about Remus and nothing else that might have been take as something untrue.

Remus grasped Sirius' hand and pulled him from his stool suddenly, to drag him into the bathroom on the other side of the club. Sirius blinked in the unexpected bright lights, trying to get Remus into focus, concentrating on the soft waves of his hair and the contrasting angles of his body, vaguely aware that he was being examined in much the same way.

"I didn't pull you in here for a quick shag."

Sirius looked up and met his eyes, "Well, that's a relief." He chuckled, but Remus didn't laugh. Guessing that the light haired man had perhaps been involved in similar situations and not wanting to be seen as just a fling, Sirius added seriously, "I don't do that sort of thing."

"I know." Remus said, leaning back against the sinks. Sirius glanced in the mirror behind him, seeing Remus' body in front of his own and couldn't help thinking that they looked beautiful together. "Lily told me you eloped with a woman a few months ago. What are you doing in a gay bar?"

_That conniving bitch_, Sirius thought venomously as he rubbed his neck, trying to figure out how to answer. Lily had told Remus about him, but had refused to tell Sirius anything about Remus – her excuse had been that she didn't want Remus to get hurt and that Sirius tended to use people for his own pleasure, where Remus only got with guys who only wanted a onetime thing like he did. Sirius wasn't that bad, was he? Well, either way a lot of his baggage had been exposed before his relationship with Remus had moved past 'acquaintance'.

"Ah, right, she told you that. I've been with guys before, even if it has been mostly women in the past. After that bitch, I'm sticking with men for a while." Sirius explained, hoping that Remus was only worried about his preferences and being treated like a sexual experiment, rather than wanting to know the details about his messed up past.

Remus simply tipped his head to the side, looking completely gorgeous and making Sirius yearn to touch him, and smiled. Then he surprised Sirius by pulling his shirt up, revealing the tattoos there with a single raised brow. Instead of taking the chance to read what had intrigued him so much in the parlour, which he knew would be the wrong thing to do considering Remus' sudden solemn mood, Sirius touched the tattoo on his neck again instead, lowering his shirt at the same time.

"They don't bother you?" Remus asked, a small frown line creasing the space between his eyebrows.

"I'll admit, I am curious to find out if this one's true." Sirius laughed truthfully, his thumb still stroking Remus' neck, "But no. Everyone's got a past, Remus." He added meaningfully, thinking of himself too, "Yours is written there for me to see, is all."

Sirius felt Remus shiver under his touch and searched his face for any signals that would give him permission to take it a step further. Remus continued to watch him, too, confusion, uncertainty and apprehension flitting across his eyes. _Remus Lupin, nervous_? Sirius thought, unable to completely hide his amusement. Such a thing didn't fit with the seductive, confident man he had spoken with so far, but it still seemed to slot in with the image of Remus that Sirius was building with every word and action.

"Whatever you're thinking, it certainly looks confusing." Sirius chuckled, guessing that a little humour would help alleviate Remus' mood and assure him that he shouldn't worry around him, "Care to let me in?"

Remus laughed his musical laugh, before sobering up slightly and giving Sirius a smile identical to the seductive one he had given him in the tattoo parlour. He looked down for a moment to tug at Sirius' t-shirt – making Sirius shiver pleasantly as the material brushed over his pierced nipples, still sensitive – before looking back up and shrugging carelessly.

"I was wondering how to kiss you." Remus smiled, tugging again. Sirius' smiled matched Remus' as he stepped as close to the shorter man as possible, pressing their bodies together to leave no doubt as to what he was about to do. He lifted his hand, the other still on the tattoo, to cradle Remus' jaw carefully.

"Why don't I show you?"

**A/N2:** So yeah, that was it. Lemme know if it was any good and if you want more chapters and if you like reading both points of view each time! I'm thinking that this is the sort of story I'll only keep writing if people want me to. I mean, I like it, but I've got others running too, so if no one wants this one it's certainly not a priority. So yeah, review! :3 Also, I'm totally open to people giving me any requests for how they'd like to see these two pushed together etc…in other words, feed me plot bunnies and I will spit out chapters and a bit of rabbit fur.


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: **Not mine, ladidadida…

**A/N:** Thank you to **gobalbucs**. It's a shame you're a guest, or I could thank you more personally, so I'll just say that I will do as you asked and both continue to write (as far as this chapter is concerned, anyway) and use your request. Enjoy!

The door to the bathroom slammed open. Remus and Sirius sprung apart. Sirius felt uncharacteristically self-conscious – something that only seemed to happen around the brown haired enigma – as two men, both arguing at the top of their lungs about eying up some younger guy, stormed in without sparing the two already in there a glance. Sirius glanced at Remus, to find the other man already watching him from under his lashes – was he _blushing_? A warm feeling coursed through Sirius and it had nothing to do with the alcohol he had consumed both he had come out for the night and in the club.

"Lily's probably waiting for me." Sirius told Remus as they headed out into the heat and noise of the club, "I haven't even said hello to Molly and Alice, yet."

"Right," Remus nodded, gesturing vaguely at the bar, "I'll, err—"

"I'll get another round," Sirius grinned, "You go find Lily."

Remus closed his mouth and frowned. Sirius could imagine what was going through his head – it would pretty much be the same as what was floating around his own; an uncharacteristic nervousness and awkwardness around the other that he had never experienced around anyone before.

A few minutes later, Sirius was sliding into the booth beside Alice, opposite Remus. Lily sat beside Remus and Molly was at the end with her back to the wall. The other two women greeted Sirius with wide grins and such enthusiasm that told him they'd already had a couple of shots. None the less, Sirius passed out the glitter bombs.

"Lily introduced us to your boyfriend." Molly giggled, batting her lashes at Remus. Sirius briefly wondered if Remus had ever been with a girl and shot Molly a jealous glare.

"Err, I'm not…we're not…" Remus tried and trailed off, shrugging at Sirius apologetically. Sirius returned the gesture with a smile as Alice told Sirius that he was lucky and that Remus was gorgeous. Remus didn't blush like he did with Sirius, which made him ridiculously happy. The other man only smiled and complimented Alice back with a smooth charm that made Sirius swoon internally.

"Where's Dorcas?" Sirius asked, tearing his eyes away from Remus.

"She's gonna be late," Molly explained, "Had to work late at the office. On a Friday night. Poor girl."

The others murmured in agreement, before Lily announced that they should do their shots. Three glitter bombs, two straight shots of Jägermeister and a few fish bowl cocktails later, Sirius had his head on the table as he spoke with Remus who had moved beside him after the girls had gotten up to dance with a group of guys who had asked about Alice's shoes and had fingers in Sirius' hair. The pair were growing more and more confident with each other and whether that was due to the alcohol or the increasing amount of time they were spending in each other's company, Sirius didn't care, so long as he didn't forget this in the morning.

-BREAK-

"So then we ran, but Jamie tripped and fell on her bed while I escaped. McGonagall came in to find him tangled in her underwear…god, he got about four months of detention for that." Sirius laughed as he told stories of his time at boarding school with his friends. Remus laughed and Sirius couldn't help noticing the other way man threw his head back and laid his hand on Sirius' thigh as he did.

"You school sounded brilliant." Remus chuckled, shaking his head, "God, I wish mine had been like that."

"What was it like?" Sirius asked, accepting the mug of tea Lily passed him. They were sat in the tattoo parlour a week later, Sirius there simply to visit his friends and Remus there because Sirius had begged Lily to invite him.

"Stuffy." Remus grimaced, "There wasn't anyone fun there like you, James and Lily. I dropped out though, before I could finish my A levels, so I didn't have to put up with the bastards for too long."

"Why did you drop out?" Sirius asked softly, in case in was a sensitive topic. Remus was obviously a highly intelligent person and it didn't add up to think that he didn't finish college.

"My parents were sued by a client. Fenrir Greyback." Remus explained with a shrug, "They went bankrupt and had to take me out of school. I could have gone to a public school, but our names were well-known in the area and the kids gave me shit about being so poor after being so rich."

"Kids are idiots." Sirius said with meaning, sipping his tea, "They don't realise that money isn't everything."

"That's why I moved here and enjoyed living a simple life with a minimal wage job and a box of a flat." Remus chuckled, "The only thing I have from that life is this." He added pointing at the tattoo on his neck. Sirius looked and laughed when he read it again for what must have been the hundredth time.

"So you started doing that at, what, seventeen?" Sirius asked curiously, wrapping his hands around his mug.

"Sixteen." Remus corrected, "Just to see the looks on my parents' faces, really. Then it stuck, became a habit."

"When did you realise you were gay?" Sirius asked, setting his mug down and turning towards Remus, "I noticed I was attracted to both genders around fourteen, fifteen."

"Oh, I've always known, really." Remus smiled with a soft smile that hit Sirius right in the centre of his heart, making him want to fold the other man in his arms, "That's why my parents never exactly liked me. I wasn't a son they could be proud of."

"That's ridiculous." Sirius said with so much meaning he didn't need to explain, Remus already giving him a warm grin.

"I know. It sounds like a plot from a film, right?" Remus asked in amusement at himself.

Sirus, struck with a sudden idea, turned back to his mug to finish it, before getting to his feet and calling a cheerful goodbye to Lily and James, who looked up questioningly as he took Remus by the arm and pulled him out of the shop behind him.

"Care to explain why I'm being kidnapped?" Remus laughed as he jogged to walk beside Sirius, "I didn't even say goodbye to Lily and James."

"Do you want to go back?" Sirius asked, lifting an eyebrow.

"Definitely not." Remus smiled, his eyes laughing. Sirius grinned back, feeling his heart soar happily as he led Remus down the street and into a block of flats. He was taking out his key when he noticed Remus blinking in surprise.

"What?" Sirius asked, pausing as he pulled the key from his back pocket.

"You live here?" Remus asked in disbelief. Sirius started to panic, worrying that Remus assumed he had brought him here for sex and was disgusted. He nodded hesitantly. "That's crazy. I live down the street, about five doors down from the tattoo parlour."

Sirius blinked, relief flooding through him before he cracked a wide grin, "Almost like fate."

Remus smiled at the soft words and nudged Sirius to get on with opening the door. Delighted, Sirius did, letting them in and leading Remus up to the third floor. Once inside his flat, he heard Remus give a low whistle behind him and turned to find him looking around, impressed.

"Why the hell do you live in such a crappy area if you can afford to decorate like this?" Remus asked, stepping further in to look around a bit more. He stepped back again though, when he almost stepped on a couple of letters that had fallen off the table by the door when Sirius had hurried past to get to the parlour that morning. Sirius watched as Remus picked the letter up and skimmed his eyes over the name on the address before putting them down. He looked up at Sirius, who cursed whichever god had it in for him.

"Black?" Remus asked, "As in the corrupt politicians that have yet to be legally proven to be corrupt?"

"The very same." Sirius nodded, detecting a supressed smirk on Remus' face and thanking the gods, "Also known as the family that threatened to disown me unless I married the right girl and then _did_ disown me because I didn't." he gestured around the flat, "I made sure I got what I wanted out of them, first."

"Of course." Remus chuckled, coming further inside to shut the door before going into the front room. Sirius followed him, watching him and thinking about how right the other man looked in his home, unlike the others he had brought here. They had looked awkward and had clashed too much to fit in with him.

"Do you want anything to drink or eat?" Sirius asked, gesturing for Remus to take a seat, "I bought some Quality Streets the other week and I haven't had an opportunity to open them yet."

"Sounds good." Remus smiled. Sirius went and fetched the tin of chocolates from the fridge. When he went back through, he found Remus lounged on his sofa, his shoes by the front door and his jacket hung up beside Sirius, who felt his face heat up a little at the wonderfully domesticated setting. He walked over and lifted Remus' legs to sit down, laying his long legs on his lap when he was comfortable. Remus smiled at him, seemingly comfortable with the position.

-BREAK-

"So what did you drag me up here for?" he asked, grabbing the tin from Sirius, who gasped and pretended to be offended, before laughing as Remus opened it and lit up at the sight of the colourful wrappers. God, he loved chocolate. Sirius smiled over at him and picked up the television remote, switching it on.

"You mentioned your life being like a film and I remembered that I had this new video I bought the other day." Sirius explained. Remus watched him as he picked up a different remote and turned on the VHS system under the television stand. The machine whirred and the screen flickered to life. "I'd heard it was sad and I'm rubbish with those kinds of films, so I thought I'd watch it with you instead of on my own."

Remus smiled at the hopeful look in Sirius' eyes and nodded, selecting a caramel chocolate from the tin, "Cool. What's the film?"

"_One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest_." Sirius said sheepishly. Remus laughed loudly.

"Seriously?" he chuckled, "That's been out for years! You haven't watched it yet?"

"Have you?"

"I don't have a video player and I can't afford the cinema." Remus shrugged, watching for Sirius' reaction. Blacks had always been wealthy and used to the high life, so he wasn't sure if Sirius would be able to get used to his way of life. His worries were proved pointless, though, when Sirius grinned and ordered him to come over all the time and watch all of his other videos with him.

"Right." Sirius said, pressing play and settling down to watch, "Let's get this show on the road. Oi, chuck me a chocolate, you pig."

The film was, as Sirius had warned him, quite tragically sad. Remus hadn't said anything, but he was even worse when it came to such films. About halfway through, Remus had crawled over to curl next to Sirius, laying his head on the other man's chest. Sirius had instantly draped an arm over him and pulled him close. By the time they reached the part where Nurse Ratched had been attacked by McMurphy, Remus had stopped paying any attention, all of his attention focused on Sirius' hand on his hip.

Giving up on concentrating on the ending of the film, Remus sat up, bringing his legs under him to sit on the sofa facing Sirius, who looked back. His grey eyes bored into his own, urging him to go ahead. So he did. Leaning forward, Remus resting one hand on Sirius' chest to balance himself and let their lips meet.

It was a simple first kiss and it was their first, making it sweet and almost chaste in nature. Sirius' hand came up to cup Remus' cheek as their mouths moved against each other in perfect sync and Remus couldn't help himself from sighing and allowing Sirius' tongue access.

By the time they had pulled apart, both men were breathless and starry eyed. Remus relaxed back against Sirius' side and noticed the film credits rolling. They both laughed, having missed the ending.

"It was making you cry, anyway." Sirius teased, entwining his fingers with Remus'. Remus looked across at him and grinned, the expression nearly cracking his face with its enthusiasm. He felt like a teenager in his first proper relationship. It _was_ his first proper relationship. At least, he hoped it would be. He couldn't imagine not trying things properly with Sirius. He wanted to fall in love with this man.

-BREAK-

They pulled apart and Sirius looked at Remus, feeling a little dazed after such a kiss. He couldn't remember ever having anyone like that, with so much feeling behind it. He was still catching his breath when Remus settled at his side again and laughed when he realised that they had missed the ending of the film and it had been totally worth it.

"It was making you cry, anyway." He joked, taking Remus' hand in his. Remus smiled blindingly at him and Sirius took a deep breath to calm himself. He felt like this could be it for him. He didn't want to even think about anyone else now. It was true that they hadn't known each other for very long, but people said that when you met The One, you knew instantly. And Sirius had known. He still did.

Later that day – after hours of lounging around, finishing the chocolates off and kissing lazily – Sirius walked Remus home and, after a kiss that grew too heated for prying eyes, practically strutted down to the Potter's shop. He opened the door and grinned as he laid eyes on his friends, sitting at the counter in between customers. They both looked over when he came in and clocked his blissful grin as he sat beside Lily.

"Where did you and Remus go?" Lily asked suspiciously.

"Back to mine." Sirius sighed happily, leaning his cheek on his palm.

"You _slept_ with him?" James asked disbelievingly. He leant over the counter to smack Sirius upside the head, "Why the hell would you do that? Me and Lils honestly thought that this guy would be good for you."

"If you hurt Remus, I will personally kick your arse," Lily growled, jabbing Sirius in the arm, "He's not as tough as he makes out and doesn't deserve some player like _you_ shagging him and dumping him."

"Whoa!" Sirius yelled, holding up this hands to silence the pair and protect himself from any other attacks, "Would you two just shut up and stop accusing me? You two, of all people thinking that I'd do something like that to Remus…" He got to his feet and made his way back to the door, turning back to say before he left, "And for the record, I only kissed him. I would never have done anything else, because it wouldn't have been right to treat him like that."

Sirius slammed the door shut on their surprised faces and stood in the cold for a moment, wondering what to do – whether he should go back in or apologise or just go home and sulk. Instead, he turned on his heel and stalked down the road in the opposite direction of his flat to go knock on Remus' door.

**A/N2:** Get me, getting two chapters out in two days. I'm on a roll! Right then, same drill: review (and leave an idea if you have one) if you want another chapter. If I don't get reviews, I probably won't keep going. Sorry, but that's just how evil I am. Mwa ha ha ha ha ha haaaa


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: **All goes to J.K. Rowling, except for the ideas in this chapter. I'm giving all _those_ rights to** gobalbucs (guest)**, since they were so helpful in the review ^-^ I hope I wrote it how you imagined it! And thank you to **AKBookGirl** for the idea of a first date :)

**A/N:** Thank you, dear **hato-ryou-chan** for the sweet treats and the tea, they are very much appreciated ^-^ **FinnishGirl (guest)**, this might sound stupid and the answer is probably obvious, but I'll ask anyway – what sort of message exactly are you wanting for Sirius to send Remus?

Remus sighed when he heard someone banging on the door persistently and made his way downstairs to get it. He was still towel drying his hair when he opened the door, planning on making whoever it was uncomfortable for being so impatient with his state of undress.

"What the hell is it that you can't know once and wait?" Remus snapped, draping the towel around his neck to glare at— "Sirius?" He blinked at the raven-haired man on his doorstep and gave a sheepish smile, "Sorry about that, I thought you were some kid flogging papers or something. Are you okay?"

Sirius nodded, his expression solemn. Remus cleared his throat, remembering that he was only wearing a pair of low slung jeans and nothing else, the water droplets dripping from the ends of his hair and running shining wet rivulets down his chest, stomach and hips.

"Could I come in?" Sirius asked his dark expression lifting to allow him to look uneasy and awkward. Remus cleared his throat, unsure of what to do and how to act. He nodded, stepping aside and waving an arm vaguely. Sirius entered, throwing Remus a half smile. Remus shook his head as he closed the door after him, astounded at how such a half-hearted smile could still set his heart off.

"I haven't exactly cleaned for you," Remus said apologetically, hovering behind Sirius as he pointed to the living room, a box room at the front of the terraced house. All of the rooms were box rooms, since this was the only house Remus could afford to rent. He cringed as Sirius moved a couple of crumpled shirts aside to collapse on the sofa with a tired sigh. Remus frowned, leaning against the doorframe. What had happened to Sirius to make his mood change so drastically in the ten minutes they'd been separated?

"Don't worry," Sirius assured him with a wave of his hand, "I'd only cleaned my pace up yesterday, so you coming round when you could see the floor was a complete fluke."

Remus didn't reply, too caught up in his concern for the other man's mood to make any jokes. Sirius looked over at him and noticed his worry. He stood with a sigh and came over to stand in front of Remus and leaning against the frame, too.

"Sorry for barging in." he said sincerely, lifting Remus' chin with the tip of a single finger. Remus felt warmth spread from that point as he met those intense grey eyes. "I tend to brood when I'm upset, so I thought you could cheer me up instead."

"Why don't you tell me what's happened and I'll give it a go?" Remus suggested, flashing a smile. Sirius went to say something, before stopping himself and reaching out to touch the towel around Remus' shoulders.

"Were you taking a shower?" he asked, his voice oddly soft. Remus couldn't answer, the words disappearing as though by magic when Sirius' fingers dropped to his bare chest, tracing across the tattoos there and cutting through the path of a drop of water heading for his navel. Remus' heart skipped a beat when Sirius let one finger venture lower, tracing over the outline of his hip above the waist of his low slung jeans.

"Yes." Remus breathed. Sirius looked up again, his hand dropped to his side. Remus found that he was sorely disappointed, but – in a strange way – didn't mind much; such a sensation as longing for another man's touch was normal for him. Most would be reluctant to be touched so suggestively when they had known the other for such a short time, but Remus was, he admitted, a bit of a slut.

"And you just threw these on to answer the door?" Sirius asked, his voice husky as he kept eye contact. Remus nodded, watching the wheels turn in the other man's head with a small smirk. Sirius, much to Remus' amusement, shook his head like a dog and laughed bashfully, "God, you're distracting like that. Go finish getting dressed and I'll pour my heart out to you."

Remus narrowed his eyes and yanked Sirius forward by his leather jacket to give him a long, slow kiss. When he pulled back, Sirius' eyes were still closed, a wide smile curving his red lips up. Remus laughed loudly, turning away to head upstairs.

-BREAK-

"Why don't you tell me what's happened and I'll give it a go?" Remus said with a wide smile that Sirius could only think of as wicked. His reply died on his lips when Remus unconsciously touched the towel around his neck to make sure it wasn't slipping and he was irrevocably reminded that Remus wasn't wearing a shirt. His hand reached out without his permission and trailed from the towel to the skin so teasingly displayed. His fingers drifted down to touch Remus lightly, trailing around the words tattooed there, savouring the feel of the soft skin pulled tight over delicious muscle. Sirius' eyes dropped lower as his fingers preceded him, dipping into the hollows under his hips.

"Yes."

Remus' breathy answer snapped Sirius back into the present, making him look up quickly and lower his hand to his side again. This wasn't a guy he could just hump and dump because he was hot. No, Remus was…well, he was special. Sirius could admit that comfortably and choose to back off in a situation where he might have jumped the bloke.

"And you just threw these on to answer the door?" he asked, hearing his voice and cursing inwardly. Telling his brain to back off seemed to be an entirely different matter to telling his body to back off. Remus nodded silently, causing images of Remus' pulling jeans over still-wet legs, not bothering to fetch any underwear…he shook his head vigorously, trying to shake the thoughts from his lecherous head. "God, you're distracting like that." He admitted with a sheepish laugh, "Go finish getting dressed and I'll pour my heart out to you."

Remus gave him an expression that was unavoidably cute and lunged forwards suddenly, catching Sirius off guard with his hand on his jacket. Sirius stumbled and fell into a bone melting kiss. When Remus broke it off, he knew he was grinning like an idiot, but he couldn't do anything about it, only watch as Remus ascended the stairs as he laughed beatifically.

Sirius turned to go and sit back down, where he covered his face with his hands and shook his head disbelievingly – he was acting like a teenager around Remus. He wondered briefly if the other man noticed his odd behaviour, but then quickly decided that he probably didn't, considering as he appeared to feel the same way about Sirius. The thought made his stomach explode in a swarm of butterflies.

Remus came down, now wearing a baggy t-shirt that made Sirius take a calming breath, to find him waiting impatiently. Sirius opened his arms, grinning as the other man gave a dazzling smile and came to sit beside him, scooting close. Sirius inhaled the smell of citrusy soap and another scent that was entirely Remus.

"I've just called work," Remus said, his voice vibrating against Sirius' collarbone, where his lips were pressed, "I've called in sick. Can't work a night shift with the flu."

Sirius laughed, pressing a kiss to the top of Remus' head, "I'm honoured. All to listen to me moan about my crappy friends."

"I'm not that good of a guy," Remus chuckled, looking up and fixing Sirius with those breath-taking eyes, "I was thinking of asking you out."

Sirius blinked for a moment before he realised that they hadn't actually done any of this in what was considered the 'proper' way. They'd gone straight to the kissing part without defining their relationship in any way.

"Would you like to go out with me tonight?" Remus asked, pulling himself up to straddle Sirius' lap. He looked down at him with a bright smile and tilted his head to the side, "There's this place that's owned by my mate, Peter. He's fine with guys like us, so it'd be perfect."

"How could I say no when you look so sweet?" Sirus said, stretching up to peck him on the end of his nose, "It's a date."

Remus grinned back, sliding back to sit beside him. Sirius watched him, reminded of a restless boy as he turned to face him and cross his legs.

"Why did you come over, then?" the other man asked gently, his expression softening, "What upset you? I mean, I left you alone for ten minutes and you've gone and got yourself into bother."

Sirius couldn't help but laugh at Remus' poor attempt at humour and shrugged half-heartedly, "It sounds stupid now. James and Lily are…well, they aren't against us seeing each other, but they aren't happy about it."

Remus frowned drawing back a little, "Why?" he asked defensively.

"Because of me, not you." Sirius assured him, reaching for his hand, "There's nothing wrong with me."

"Are you sure?" Remus laughed sarcastically, "Did you see the tattoos?"

"They're beautiful," Sirius protested, "Because they're a part of you."

"Really corny, Sirius." Remus snorted. Sirius didn't take back, though, because he caught the other man blushing quite profusely. He lifted a hand to brush the heated skin gently, before dropping it and looking away nervously.

"They're worried that I'm going to hurt you." He admitted glancing up at Remus to see his reaction. Luckily, he didn't look wary, or angry at the sound of Sirius being a heartbreaker. Instead – rather confusingly – he was holding back laughter.

"I'm sorry," Remus chortled, shaking his head, "They've always been overprotective of me. Convinced I've got some hidden story behind why I…" he hesitated looking up and seeming to realise who he was talking to. Sirius nodded to encourage him. "…Why I sleep with so many guys."

"They've both been prudes since school." Sirius said with a roll of his eyes, "Anyway, they don't want me to sleep with you and then leave you. To be honest, that would be a little awkward since you live right down the street."

"Awkward indeed." Remus agreed, cracking a small smile, glancing away at the mention of them sleeping together. Sirius decided he liked this reserved, shy version of Remus, as well as the seductive wolf he had first met, and wanted to see it more often. "So they've got nothing to fear?"

Sirius lifted Remus' slender hand to press his lips against the soft skin, "Nothing."

-BREAK-

Sirius waltzed into the restaurant a few hours later, having gone home shortly after his conversation with Remus in his house to freshen up and find something to wear. If he had felt like a teenager before, then there was no word for how he had felt when he'd been stressing over his wardrobe. Nothing he owned seemed to compliment Remus' ethereal beauty; anything he wore would have been an insult beside him. Eventually, he had settled on a pair of dark denim jeans and a fitted, dark grey dress shirt that brought out his eyes, and after about half an hour of doing his hair – putting it up and then taking it back down and repeating the cycle again – he decided on leaving his hair down to frame his face and set off.

He was ridiculously excited to go on a date with Remus, but it didn't feel ridiculous _because_ it was Remus. They would have the whole evening to talk about each other and discover things normal people discovered, because being with Remus felt so normal, it was perfect. He rounded the corner in the restaurant to where Remus said he would most likely be sat, and stopped dead, his smile sliding from his face.

Remus looked up and caught his gaze, his own gaze miserable, because none other than the meddlesome Potters were sat opposite him, chatting away happily as though there was nothing wrong with the scene. Sirius set his jaw and marched over to stand beside the table with his arms folded and his foot tapping. Lily and James spotted him and faltered under his searing stare.

"Evening, Siri—"

"What the hell are you two doing here?" Sirius demanded over Lily's nervous greeting.

"We've come to make sure this isn't something you'll both regret." James said sharply, glaring first at Sirius and then at Remus, who scowled back. Sirius tore his eyes away from Remus, revelling in how beautiful he looked when he was angry – his fierce wolf. "Let's be honest, neither of you has got the best track record when it comes to relationships and since you're both our good friends, we don't want to be stuck in the middle if this goes to shit."

Lily blinked at James in surprise at his speech, whilst Sirius silently glanced at Remus, who nodded slightly, getting to his feet with a heavy sigh directed at the Potters, who smiled sweetly back at him. Sirius stepped closer to Remus to greet him properly as though they hadn't been interrupted by a couple of interfering idiots.

"You look gorgeous." He murmured, half to himself. It was true – painfully so. Remus had gone with a simple black t-shirt beneath a loose fitted blazer, also black, with the sleeves rolled up to just below his elbows. His hair was what Sirius' was beginning to learn was its usual style, a cute disarray that somehow had style, brushing the bottom of his ears and falling into his eyes occasionally. Sirius wanted to do things right by not jumping into bed with the guy too quickly, but when he was dressed like this, it made his life pretty hard.

"So do you." Remus said with an appreciate smile. Sirius shivered, practically able to feel those complexly coloured eyes drinking him up, moving slowly from his face to his toes and back up again. Feeling James' and Lily's eyes on them, Sirius laughed nervously and leaned in to kiss Remus briefly before they took their seats opposite the married couple.

"You're loving this, aren't you?" Sirius asked bitterly, glaring at his so-called-friends, "Ruining our first date."

"Get over yourself, Sirius." Lily snapped, "You're not a fifteen year old girl."

Sirius made to snap back, but stopped abruptly when he felt a hand rest on his thigh.

-BREAK-

"Get over yourself, Sirius. You're not a fifteen year old girl."

Remus looked at Sirius, wincing at Lily's comment, and reached out under the table instinctively, wanting to calm the other man down. His touch had an immediate effect; Sirius closed his mouth on whatever he had been about to say and swallowed before looking at Remus. He merely smiled innocently, leaving his hand where it was.

"Let's just enjoy ourselves, okay?" James asked as he happily read over the menu. They were saved from having to make any reply by the waitress – a tall blonde who could give Jessica Rabbit a run for her money in the curves department – sauntered over with a notepad and pen.

"What would you like to drink this evening?" she asked, sounding bored. Poor girl. Remus had worked as a waiter once and he had hated it. He worked in a corner shop now. He didn't need to be constantly polite to customers there. No one cared whether he said please or thank you so long as they got their Daily Mirror.

"Just an orange juice, thanks." Lily smiled up at the waitress, who noted her choice down with a nod.

"I'll have a glass of Merlot, please." James added. The waitress – Debbie, as her name tag stated – nodded again and turned to Sirius. Remus watched as her eyes widened slightly when she took in the image of lustrous black hair, expensive clothes and the promise of a hot body underneath them. His face didn't hurt to look at, either and she was making her opinion on the matter known by the way she straightened up and stuck her ample bosom out a little more.

"I'll have a Carlsberg." Sirius said, not even looking up at her. Remus smirked to himself at the put out look on Debbie's face, but it was wiped off his face when she bent to look at him, pretending that she had to look around Sirius to get to Remus instead of merely walk around. Sirius jumped, startled when he was presented by a pair of large breasts, nearly spilling from the low cut white shirt of the uniform Peter had asked his waiting staff to wear. Remus mentally noted that he was going to strangle Peter the next time he saw him; Sirius wasn't gay, he was bi. A woman like this, like Debbie, was surely enough to catch the attention of any man who swung that way.

"Me, too." Remus growled, unable to think past the sudden rush of jealousy that was close to suffocating him to look at anything else on the drink menu. Debbie nodded, casting Sirius a pouty smile before flouncing away to get their orders.

"She was…" James said distractedly, staring after the waitress.

"Boobalicious." Lily nodded, her own eyes following Debbie across the restaurant. Remus stewed, clamping his hands down on the table lest he do something stupid. He didn't know when he had retracted his touch from Sirius' leg, but he could still feel the warmth on his palm and the heat in the other man's gaze. Debbie was back in the next moment, balancing the black circular tray on one hand as she set their drink down in front of their respective customers.

"Anything else I can get you?" Debbie asked, her eyes solely on Sirius. They shook their heads, telling her to come back in a few minutes after they had scanned their menus more thoroughly. Before she left, Debbie repeated her offer to Sirius alone, who looked up and shook his head with a small frown.

"She's coming on to you." James said bluntly, looking at Sirius as Lily observed Remus' reaction. Remus forced his face into a neutral expression, pretending as though he hadn't noticed and didn't care either way.

"Hadn't noticed." Sirius shrugged, glaring at James. Remus frowned, wondering whether that glare was to tell James to stop bringing attention to it so that he could flirt back without Remus, his date, noticing, or just to tell him to shut up in general if he was still irritated about their date crashers. Remus wanted to believe the second option, but his secretly insecure nature made him choose the first.

"I'll be back in a moment," Remus said shortly, getting to his feet, "I need to go say hello to Peter in the kitchen."

Without waiting for a response, Remus stomped across the restaurant moodily, and through the kitchen 'In' door. He looked around, eyes narrowed dangerously, and found who he was looking for. Debbie looked up from her notepad when he approached her and lifted a perfectly plucked eyebrow.

"Customers aren't supposed to be back here." She said dryly.

"I'm a friend of the owner." Remus ground out, spotting Peter pointing at him a little violently, "I came in here to see you."

Debbie looked him over with a smirk and nodded seemingly impressed, "Alright, you're pretty hot. Out back at eleven?"

"I'm gay, you stupid bint." He hissed, stepping closer, "And that black haired guy you've been pressing your tits against? He's with me, so you need to back off before I shove that notepad up your—"

"Remus!" Peter cried jovially as he approached. Remus turned to see his old friend, a chubby man with an unfortunate fondness for food of any kind, waddling towards them, so he made his way back to the doors. He didn't have time to talk to him when he had Sirius waiting outside.

"Hey, Peter! Gotta run, but I'll call you tomorrow?" Remus grinned at his friend, before throwing Debbie daggers as he exited the kitchen, who followed him out, her heels clicking on the tiled floor. By the time he was back at his table, Sirius had disappeared to the bathroom, according to James.

"I need to take a piss myself, actually." James announced, standing up and ruffling Lily's hair, who swore at him and laughed. Once he was gone, Lily turned to Remus with a knowing smirk, lifting her orange juice to her lips.

"Have a word with that waitress, did you?" she asked slyly.

"I don't know what you're talking about." Remus answered nonchalantly, unable to hide his smile behind his beer bottle. Lily made as though to ask another question, when James returned suddenly, looking sullen. He looked down at Remus, his hazel eyes softening.

"Remus, I…" he hesitated and tried again, "Rem, I just caught Sirius with that waitress by the toilets."

Remus' mind went blank for all of three seconds, as he tuned out Lily's shocked disbelief and James' livid confirmations. Sirius was with that girl. Debbie, the slutty waitress. His fingers curled into fists and his hands shook. He got to his feet slowly, aware that his anger was merely masking his hurt at having been played by the only man he had been willing to try a relationship with. It seemed that he was doomed to be a man-whore forever, he thought dully as he burst into the square hallway where the men's, women's and disabled toilet doors were situated, his eyes misting over a little, and froze.

Debbie was sprawled flat against the wall, but there was no expression of ecstasy on her face, no Sirius pressed up against her. Sirius was on the other side of the room, his chest heaving with – Remus could hardly believe the way his heart was soaring at the sight – anger as he glared at the waitress, whose expression was a mixture of humiliation and anger. Remus looked back at Sirius, who had pushed himself off the wall and taken a step towards Debbie, jabbing a finger at her.

"It's women like you who make me happy I've got other options," he was shouting, "I'm already with someone, you fucking stupid bitch!"

Debbie's head snapped towards Remus, who jumped guiltily at having witness the scene for some reason, "You were all over me. Don't lie."

Remus saw red and leapt across the small room at Sirius, who looked around with wide eyes as he realised that he and the waitress weren't alone. It was too late, though, Remus' fist was already colliding with Sirius' jaw, sending the other man back against the wall. Remus stood, his fist red and throbbing, staring at Sirius, who lifted a hand to touch his face in surprise. Remus watched those grey eyes soften and the pupils dilating at the sight of him and suddenly felt stupid for hitting the other man. No one who could look at him like that would kiss another woman during their first official date. Sirius approached Remus slowly, as though he was bomb waiting to explode, and took a hold of his hands, refusing to break eye contact as he watched him carefully.

"You have to believe that I didn't do anything, Rem," he insisted imploringly, "She threw herself at me. I didn't even see her coming."

"I believe you." Remus smiled, realising as he said it that he honestly did. He touched Sirius' jaw gently, wincing as the other man pulled back with a quiet hiss. "I'm sorry, I don't know why I—"

"Don't, it's fine." Sirius smirked confidently, leaning forwards to kiss Remus briefly, "Jealousy is the highest form of flattery."

"I wasn't jealous." Remus muttered, full aware that he was being childish, as his face morphed into a wide grin. Meanwhile, Debbie had snuck out of the room, muttering to herself about unavailable hot gay guys. Sirius and Remus watched her go for a moment, standing close together in the small space. Remus caught a hold of those grey eyes and smiled apologetically before tilting his head to kiss the reddening mark on Sirius' jaw gently.

"Sorry." He murmured again, "James came to me, saying how he had seen you with the waitress and I kind of lost it, even though you had obviously pushed her off. I don't usually do things like that."

"I get it." Sirius said, sounding thoughtful as he took Remus' hands, "Normally I'd go for it if someone like her approached me, no matter whether I'm with something or not. With you, though…" he trailed off and smiled blindingly at Remus, whose heart was surely having a coronary, "Rem, with you it's different. Nothing I'm doing here is normal, but it somehow still _feels_ normal. That woman has made me realise – and stop me if I'm being too forward, here – that I don't want to be touched by anyone else but you. Anyone else would feel wrong."

Remus pressed his lips against Sirius' gently, slowly moving their mouths together in sync with each other. Sirius squeezed his hands as he grinned when they parted.

"You didn't stop me." he observed.

"I didn't want to." Remus answered with a matching smile, "Shall we go and swear at our friends for a bit?"

"That sounds wonderful." Sirius said in such a soft voice as though Remus had suggested dining by candlelight in Paris, that they both started laughing. They left the room when they had calmed down, and went back to the table where the Potters were waiting anxiously. They stood quickly when they saw them coming, words of anger and accusation forming a moment before they noticed Remus' and Sirius' linked hands.

"Oh." James said dumbly.

"Yes." Remus nodded, his voice hard, "You misunderstood the situation, Potter, and I don't take kindly to being tricked into punching people who don't deserve it."

"He hit you?" Lily asked in surprise, looking between the two men.

"He's got a good right hook." Sirius chuckled, tilting his head to show his friends. James looked and blinked, dumbfounded. Remus nodded, satisfied that James looked as though he had learnt his lesson about meddling in other peoples' love lives. He pulled on Sirius' arm, nodding towards the exit.

"I think this is our cue to leave."

"Agreed." Sirius nodded, "Let me pay for the drinks."

"It's on Peter." Remus informed him, glancing towards the kitchen, where he was sure the owner was currently dealing with an indignant waitress. Peter was a good businessman and would deal with the situation as his customers would see fit. As Sirius headed towards the exit, Remus turned to James and Lily and lowered his voice so the other man couldn't hear him, "I know you two are trying to look out for me, but you need to stay out of this."

They looked as though they wanted to interrupt, so Remus held up a finger to silence them as he finished, "I want a fair chance at falling in love with him."

**A/N2:** So there you have it, chapter four :) Same drill here – review to get another chapter ad leave your ideas. Chapter five has the potential for a more steamy scene, but I'm gonna leave that in your hands. So, to clarify, review and let me know what you want to happen and if you want to see the puppies gettin' it on or not ;)


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: **Nothing except the clothes on my back is mine.

**A/N: **Once again, thank you for the wonderful reviews, you all make me feel really good ^-^ Just to think I was going to leave this as a oneshot…

Things were going swimmingly after the failed and unintentional double date. Sirius was still hung up on Remus, who appeared to feel the same way. They hadn't slept together yet, let alone touch each other in any other way than kissing, and Sirius was happy and fine with the fact as he wouldn't have been with anyone else. The fact that they hadn't seen anything of each other in the fortnight since their date played a part in it, as they'd both had their respective lives to attend to.

It had been surprisingly hard not seeing Remus for such a long time when he only live down the road, but Sirius hadn't wanted to barge in and wrap the other man up in his arms uninvited. But none of that matter, because Sirius was on his way to see him now.

When Remus had called him the previous day, Sirius had been heartbroken to learn that the other man had been ill and he hadn't been there to comfort him. To remedy this, Sirius had popped to the supermarket to pick up a box of Remus' favourite chocolates and was currently on his way back to Remus' house. He was ten minutes away, when he felt a hand grasp his shoulder roughly from behind.

-BREAK-

Remus paced up and down his front room nervously, occasionally pulling back the curtains to peer through the dark. He shivered and sunk into the armchair by the electric fire, crossing his arms over his chest, cold despite his two pairs of fluffy socks and his oversized woolly jumper. He had had a relapse in his illness over the past couple of weeks shortly after his date with Sirius and the Potters, which had led to him catching a nasty fever, the end of which he was still shaking off.

He hadn't told Sirius about his illness yet, so he had made half arsed excuses that the other man had eaten up happily, which only made Remus feel worse. But Sirus had told him that he didn't mind and that they could get together whenever it suited Remus. So if he didn't hate Remus, where was he now?

They had been scheduled to meet at six and now it was pushing half seven, so it looked like their Chinese takeaway and Saturday night TV was off the cards. There hadn't been any calls or texts, so Remus was convinced that Sirius had met some bird and had run off into the sunset with her. Either that or he was lying in a ditch somewhere. Remus shook his head in the attempt to rid himself of the image. Remus had been uncharacteristically insecure in regards to Sirius – he had never been stood up before and now he couldn't erase the image of Sirius cold and alone…

Remus jumped to his feet in a flurry of wool and ran from his house, pausing only to lock his front door after himself before running across the street in his socks to the tattoo parlour and bang on the door. Lily appeared a moment later, concern in her voice as she reminded him that their flat door was next door, but stopped when she saw the state he was in. James appeared behind her as she ushered him in.

"What's wrong?" James asked as he closed the door, "You're in your socks, Remus."

"Aren't you supposed to be with Sirius?" Lily asked with a frown as she guided Remus to a stool.

"He didn't turn up." Remus said, twisting the too-long arms of his jumper in his hands.

"Haven't you phoned, or gone over to his flat?" James asked with a contemplative frown. Remus blinked. No, he hadn't tried either. He felt his gut wrench and shook his head vigorously, making himself dizzy.

"No, I have a feeling that something's happened." He insisted, aware that he was starting to sound feverish, "I can feel it."

"Remus," James said slowly, "What if he's back at his flat with—"

"Christ, James!" Remus shouted hoarsely, climbing off his stool, "I know you're protective over me and that Sirius and I don't have the best record for relationships, but you need to back off and—"

Remus' worry fuelled rant was cut off by the door opening. The three spun around to see Sirius walk in. Remus closed his mouth as he stared: Sirius was a mess with his leather jacket ripped and torn, a bruise already colouring and swelling one of his eyes and more cuts and bruises across the skin that Remus could see, at least.

"What—" Remus started, but was cut off by Sirius as he pushed past him to place a plastic bag on the counter, giving Lily and James a breezy smile. Remus stumbled a little, still weak, from the push from Sirius. James steadied him with an arm around his waist as he glared at Sirius hotly through his glasses.

"Has anyone seen my other jacket?" Sirius asked, heaving himself up on a stool with a wince he couldn't quite cover up, "I think I left it here and I'm going to need it, now."

James and inked at each other, unsure of what to do. Remus didn't have that problem. He disentangled himself from James and stumbled from the shop, the cold air hitting his face harshly as he crossed the road, his journey slow, his adrenaline rush having left him. He felt humiliated and confused by Sirius' attitude and concerned by the state he was in.

Remus entered his house and shuffled into his front room, where he sat on his sofa with a tired sigh, wondering why he bothered with men. He nearly missed the front door opening and closing in his thoughts, but stood in time to greet Sirius, who came in looking sheepish.

"Chocolates?" he asked hopefully, holding up the bag. Remus didn't answer, waiting instead with a stony expression and his arms folded. Sirius sighed, defeated, and put the bag on the coffee table. He took a step forward, but Remus frowned, making him stop.

"Rem, I'm sorry, I really am," Sirius said earnestly, "I don't like showing pain and weakness. It's what my family taught me when I was younger and if I ever did show weakness, they would…well, it's hard for me and I'm trying here."

Remus sighed, not yet ready to be patient, "Fine, Sirius. What happened, then? Get into a fight?"

"I was mugged." Sirius answered quietly, addressing his shoes. Remus instantly melted and closed the distance between them, touching Sirius on the arm lightly in fear of hurting him further. "It was in the park ten minutes from here. They came up from behind and took my phone and wallet, so I couldn't call."

"Did you go to the police, is that why you took so long?" Remus asked softly, taking Sirius' hands in his own.

"Yeah, they said they're going to look for them, but I'm not banking on anything." Sirius shrugged with a nervous laugh. Remus didn't laugh, this time out of respect for Sirius, assuring him silently that he wouldn't think him weak for being in pain.

"Sit down," Remus advised, releasing Sirius' hands, "I'll go get some things to clean you up."

Sirius nodded and Remus left the room to fetch some wet towels. When he returned, Sirius had dug into the chocolates he had brought. His favourites, Remus noted fondly as he sat beside Sirius and pressed a towel to Sirius' eye gently.

"I'm sorry I ruined our night in." Sirius apologised sincerely, popping a chocolate in Remus' mouth.

"Don't worry about it." Remus smiled once he had swallowed, "Hold this on your face while I clean your cuts. Are you hurt anywhere else?"

Sirius was cleaned up in no time by a gentle Remus as they ate chocolate and chatted about nothing in particular, the black eye the only real outstanding wound left, the blood cleaned up and the cuts and other bruising still faint.

"How are you?" Sirius asked suddenly, pulling back from Remus' administrations to peer at him in concern, "You said you were ill."

"I'm…fine." Remus answered unconvincingly, "Let me get rid of these towels and we'll put the telly on, okay?"

"Hmm." Sirius hummed, unconvinced.

"You hungry?" Remus asked as he went through into the kitchen. He heard Sirius respond that he wasn't and gripping the counter for strength, closing his eyes against the pain that wracked through his body.

-BREAK-

Sirius watched as Remus went through into the kitchen and noticed that he was limping a little. Sirius sighed, knowing that the other man was keeping something from him but not wanting to push it by insisting he tell him. He only wanted to know when Remus was ready.

"I was worried."

Sirius looked around quickly to see Remus walking over slowly to sit beside him. He cocked his head to the side, signalling for him to expand.

"I knew that something had happened." Remus continued, "But James and Lily didn't believe me."

"Idiots." Sirius smiled, leaning over to kiss him. They pulled apart and kissed again. And again. And again, until it was getting deeper and more intense. It wasn't fast and needy, but tender and filled with a warming passion. They broke apart, gasping for breath and staring at each other.

"Wow. Remus breathed, just as Sirius pulled his face closer again, consciously being gently, to continue their kiss. Remus' hands strayed from his chest, drifting lower and lower until- Sirius gasped against Remus' mouth as he felt long, experienced fingers kneading him through his jeans slowly, teasingly. He pulled away again, but said nothing, instead watching as Remus undid his jeans and freed him.

"God, Rem." Sirius breathed, but stopped when Remus started to bend, obviously struggling with the movement. He pulled the other man back up carefully and grinned, "As much as I would love that, maybe not today? You're not up to it."

"I most certainly am." Remus protested, grabbing Sirius' hand and showing him exactly how he _was_ up for it. Sirius chuckled and shook his head.

"You know what I mean." He murmured, squeezing gently and relishing in the moan that spilt from between Remus' parted lips.

"I'd do anything for you." Remus whispered, opening his eyes to look straight at Sirius, who instantly felt a shiver down his spine at the look, "Anything."

"And you think I wouldn't?" Sirius replied, urging Remus' hips up for a moment to slip his loose joggers off, "Not tonight, Rem."

Remus gave him a worried look that broke Sirius' heart, as though he thought Sirius would leave him if he didn't sleep with him at that moment. Sirius shook his head fondly and wrapped his arms carefully around the other man's waist to lift him onto his lap.

"Christ, you're too light." Sirius said in surprise, looking up at Remus in surprise, "What's—?"

"Tomorrow morning." Remus interrupted desperately, "I'll tell you in the morning."

Then Remus moved slightly and Sirius groaned at the hot contact between them, pulling Remus closer as they moved together. He buried his face his the other man's neck and closed his eyes, wanting to be as close as possible in that moment with the man he knew he was falling in love with.

**A/N2:** Okay, so that scene was shit and I apologise for that. Don't you worry, though, there might be a better hot 'n' heavy scene later iiiiffffff…..yes! That's right, you review! Same drill, review for another chapter and leave any ideas you want to see.


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: **It ain't mine, guys. Hell, even the general storyline isn't mine.

**A/N:** Once again, I thank yee for your reviews and ideas. I'm still thinking about where the old flame could come in, since neither Sirius or Remus have had real relationships, but I'll do my best! I'm just sayin' it probably won't be in this chapter. Anywho. Here it is – enjoy!

Remus sighed and stretched, rolling over as he opened his eyes to the dull early morning light of winter. He met smiling grey eyes on the other side of the bed, where they had migrated to the previous night after falling asleep on the sofa twice, and smiled back.

"Wotcher, Rem." Sirius grinned.

"G'morning." Remus said happily, noting that this was the first time he had woken up beside someone. The others had left after sex. It was nice, he thought fondly as Sirius scooted closer to kiss him lightly. Nice to know that someone hadn't ran away after sharing a moment of what was supposed to be considered as intimacy. Because it _had_ been intimate, even though it hadn't been what most would call 'real sex' between them. Remus had opened up and given himself to Sirius, and Sirius had done the same.

"I like waking up next to you." Sirius whispered with a silly smile.

"You read my mind." Remus admitted truthfully, "Do you want some tea? I always crave some when I wake up."

"Please." Sirius nodded as he stifled a yawn, with his hand. Remus made to get up but, forgetting himself momentarily, cried out when his legs objected and flared up in pain. Sirius instantly sprung up on his knees and waved his hands around helplessly as Remus relaxed back against the bed, wincing when his body complained at the strained movement.

"Sorry about that." Remus sighed, "The tea might have to wait."

"I'll get it," Sirius said instantly.

"You don't know where anything—"

"I'll find it," Sirius frowned, waving a hand dismissively, "Is there anything else you need?"

"Yeah, there's a box on the side next to the microwave. I'll need a glass of water, too. Oh, I have two sugars and milk in my tea." Remus said vaguely, looking down at his hands. He saw Sirius nod from the corner of his eye and get up to go. Remus looked up, watching Sirius exit the bedroom in the pair of pyjama bottoms he'd loaned last night. He sighed heavily, massaging his temples with two fingers and attempting to ignore the throbbing in his legs and through the rest of his body. He didn't want to tell Sirius, but he would ask. Of course he would – Sirius had the right to know.

"Two sugars." Sirius said when he came back a little later, two mugs of tea and a glass of water balanced on the box Remus had requested. He set a mug down on the side table by Remus, along with a long, flat box and the glass. Remus watched Sirius walk around to the other side of the bed and set him own mug down before lifting the covers and climbing in whilst watching Remus carefully.

"Do you think you could help me sit up?" Remus asked quietly. Sirius nodded quickly and moved to help him sit up and shuffle back to lean against the many pillows Remus had had to buy for such occasions. Remus felt his face flush with shame and embarrassment at having to be helped like an old man.

"So." Sirius said slowly once Remus was comfortable, "Are you going to tell me why you're…"

"Weak? Pathetic? Dependant?" Remus spat, unable to hide his disgust for his condition.

"What? No!" Sirius denied with a worried glance at Remus, scooting closer to him to force him to meet those intense grey eyes, "I just want to know so I can help you…you know…" Sirius trailed off, visibly unsure of what he wanted to say, "For the, uh, future."

Remus felt his face heat up again, but out of pleasure instead of humiliation. He looked away from Sirius, unsure of how to respond, to reach for his water and the box. He looked down and popped open the tab of the box that said 'Sun AM' and gave him access to an array of colourful tablets and capsules. It was transparent, so Sirius had already seen the amount of medication he had to take both morning and night. Remus thanked the other man with a grateful smile for not having commented on it.

Once he had swallowed the tablets, Remus set the water and tablet box on the table and took up his tea instead as he turned his eyes to the man beside him and said, "I have Lupus."

Sirius was silent for a moment, crossing his feet under the covers before asking, "I've heard of it, but you'll have to explain."

Remus took a deep breath and started, "It's an autoimmune disease. My immune system has to be suppressed, or it will start attacking my own body. It's a chronic disease, so I'll have it my whole life."

"I'm sorry." Sirius murmured, but Remus carried on as though he hadn't spoken.

"It's different for anyone who has it. Mine effects my joints, my blood, my hair, my organs…everything. I found out when I was a kid. Missed a year of school because I was in and out of hospital for so long." Remus glanced at Sirius warily, but looked away quickly before he could see his expression. He took a sip of the hot tea and continued, "I was in there for months on end, until I lost track of the days and day and night felt the same. I was alone most of the time, because my parents had to work. That was the first time I'd been under anaesthetic. When I woke up…I remember being so scared and confused about why I could move. I only remember that because that's when I started to improve, after all the operations and biopsies. They were only there when I had to have my chest and knees drained of fluids."

"How did you know?" Sirius asked gently, "From what I know, it's hard to diagnose an autoimmune…"

"Disease." Remus finished for him flatly, "It's fine, you can say it. I found out when I was about ten, I think. I lost my appetite completely and only ate a couple of forkfuls each day, so I lost a lot of weight. I was brought into A&E when I blacked out and hit my head, where they took some blood samples and saw that something was seriously wrong with me. I was lucky to hit my head, if I'm honest. If I hadn't have been diagnosed that day, I could have died. From that day, for about five months, I was in intensive care, the only nourishment a saline drip in my arm. It was another two months until I could walk a few steps on my own. A couple of years until I was permanently out of my wheelchair."

Sirius moved closer again and wrapped an arm around Remus' shoulders, his hand stroking his hair soothingly, "I'm sorry. It sounds like you've had a rough time."

Remus nodded, his eyes starting to well up at the memories, "I hated it. I still do. I have dozens of blood tests and jabs, even now. I'm always having to take time off work to go for check-ups at the hospital. I have a fear of cannulas, those needles they put in and leave in for transfusions and infusions. When I was younger, I was so weak that if you so much as poked me, my whole arm would blossom with dark bruises that wouldn't fade for months. My whole body was bruised, but they kept putting the cannulas in…one day I snapped and started thrashing and lashing out, screaming that they couldn't put another one in, not when they didn't care whether or not it hurt me." Remus took a deep breath, feeling his chest constrict at the panic and pain filled memories, "My parents consented to have me put to sleep so they could embed one deeper into my neck, so deep I wouldn't be able to pull it out. They didn't listen to me, though. I told them my veins would collapse, no matter how deep they tried to put it. I was right, so they had to rush to get it back out and stop the bleeding a few days later."

"God." Sirius whispered, turning to kiss the top of Remus' head.

"But that's not the worst thing," Remus said, hearing his voice start to shake, "The worst thing is that people have always told me that people with Lupus get to live normal lives once they're on the right doses of medication. So where's my normal life? I still have kidney disease, I still have only fifty percent of my lung capacity, I can barely walk when I have flare ups because have rheumatoid arthritis!" his voice cracked and he sobbed quietly, "I still get bad every few weeks, no matter what they do for me and I still can't get my head around the fact that this is my life. Illness is my life."

Sirius took his mug and leaned back for a moment to set it on his own bedside table before turning back to envelop Remus in a warm, comforting hug. Remus let himself cry quietly for a while, unable to believe that Sirius was being so understanding – anyone other than the Potters whom he had told about his illness had looked pitying, or scared. They had taken a step back in fear that they would somehow catch it, or were simply afraid to talk about it.

"I'm sorry," Remus sniffed, embarrassed when he had calmed down, "After all these years, I suppose I should be used to it instead of crying all over people about it."

"I don't see why you should have to get used to it." Sirius murmured, his thumb rubbing soothing circles on Remus' shoulder, "You shouldn't have been scared to tell me, Rem. It doesn't make me see you any differently."

"You'd be the first." Remus mumbled, rubbing his eyes.

"I'm just glad I know." Sirius said simply.

"Thanks." Remus replied sincerely, feeling better now that he knew Sirius wasn't disgusted by him. The pain killers he had taken had probably helped to relax him, too, but he preferred to think it was the man beside him.

"Are you having a flare now?"

"I did a couple of weeks ago." Remus nodded, "I went to hospital and had my medication adjusted. I've been fine recently, apart from a small fever. It's just that I hurt my knees when I went looking for you yesterday."

Sirius was silent for a while, so Remus looked up, thinking that Sirius had decided that he was too much to cope with and was about to tell him to leave. Sure enough, the other man's expression was hard and unreadable.

"I'm sorry, I'll—" Remus started, beginning to move out of Sirius' embrace to let him get dressed and go, thinking that he had spoiled the only chance at a proper relationship by being a pathetic invalid, when Sirius pulled him back gently and shook his head sadly.

"I'm so sorry you're hurt because of me."

"It wasn't you're fault," Remus assured him, relieved that Sirius didn't want to leave, "You couldn't help being mugged. Why don't we both just agree that it was an unfortunate event?"

"Agreed." Sirius smiled hesitantly, before grasping Remus by the jaw to turn him and kiss him slowly. When they pulled apart, Remus sighed happily and rested back against Sirius, who held him tight and started to hum a song Remus didn't know under his breath. Just as he was about to ask what the tune was, the doorbell rang.

"Who the bloody hell is that at…" Remus turned to look at his alarm clock, "Half six in the morning?"

**A/N2:** Okay, so I know that Lupus is very rare in men, but it's also quite rare in children. I was diagnosed when I was younger, too and everything Remus said is everything that I went through. I thought Lupus would be perfect, because of the name and the fact that the symptoms used to be described as a wolf attacking your body. I wrote this chapter kinda quickly, because I wanted to get it over and done with before I broke down or something equally stupid, so I'm sorry if it seems rushed, or if it's filled with loads of mistakes. Anywho, you guys know the drill – review and you get another chapter.


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer: **Not mine, not mine, not mine.

**A/N:** Hello again, my wonderful people! First of all, I'd like to say thank you for the lovely reviews and the kind things you've said to me when I revealed that I have the same illness as described in the previous chapter. I didn't expect you all to be so caring and it really made my day, since I am going through a rough patch at the moment. I didn't do it for sympathy, in case anyone was wondering, but because I don't think those with autoimmune illnesses are recognised enough or understood; the basic understanding of the world is: if you don't look ill, then you're not ill. Ignorant people who think like that make it hard for people like me, so I thought I would spread some awareness to a tiny weeny portion of people. Anywhoozers, sorry about that blahdeblah that no one probably read and on with the story!

"It's _six_ in the morning?" Sirius asked in disbelief, pulling back from Remus to stare at the clock in disbelief, "What the hell? I've never woken up before nine in my life!"

"Half six." Remus corrected automatically, swinging his legs over the side of the bed and stretching his arms above his head – the pain killers had kicked in – as he gave Sirius a small smirk, "Guess you couldn't wait to wake up and see me, huh?"

Sirius laughed and chucked and threatened to chuck a pillow a Remus sauntered from the room. Once out on the landing, he paused and looked back at the bedroom with a small smile. He never would have guessed someone like Sirius would be so at ease with talking about a chronic illness – someone so energetic and healthy shouldn't want to be around someone like Remus, surely. Taking a moment to properly stretch out his limbs and make sure he wasn't as injured as he had first felt when attempting to get up first thing, he skipped down the stairs, running a hand through his hair and thanking god that the last bits of his fever had left overnight.

He felt a little embarrassed that he had overreacted at the pain in his legs that morning when it just seemed to be morning stiffness, but was also glad he had gotten the explanation out the way with Sirius and with the fever gone, too, he could see a joyous day of fun ahead of them.

Remus opened the door, leaning against the frame as he fixed a nonchalant expression on his face, making sure his pyjamas were slung low on his hips. The cold hit his bare torso harshly, but he closed his eyes in a dramatic sigh anyway and acted as though it was summer as he said in mock annoyance, "What is it? You've just successfully interrupted my morning shag."

"How about I compensate for that with myself?" a smooth voice asked, his voice filled with amusement. Remus' eyes snapped open and he stared at the man stood on his doorstep in disbelief, at the black hair cut above his ears, at the high and aristocratic cheekbones, at the grey eyes so much like another pair if it wasn't for the coldness found there. His style of dress had changed dramatically since their last meeting, a he was wearing a long black coat of a rich-looking fabric over a sleek three piece suit in black with a deep purple tie.

"Oh my god." Remus breathed, his hand falling to his side as he stared at the near mirror image of the man upstairs in his bed right at that moment. He hadn't know. How the hell had he not know that he had slept with Sirius' brother? He hadn't know Regulus had had a brother, let alone Sirius. They looked so similar, it was ridiculous that he hadn't put two and two together. "Reggie?"

"Well, I'm glad you never forgot my name." Regulus smirked, reaching out a hand to touch the side of Remus' face, his eyes roaming over the tattoos across his chest "Even though you forgot to tell me you'd moved."

"Reggie…" Remus frowned, stepping back into his house and reaching for the door. Regulus beat him to it, though, stepping in with him and closing the door behind himself. Before Remus could shove him back out in the cold, Regulus had grabbed him by either side of his face and pulled him in for a kiss. Remus instantly struggled. He slapped the hands away and pushed the other man against the door forcefully before wiping the back of his hand across his mouth in disgust.

"Who's better?" Regulus asked, straightening his tie as he gave Remus an indecipherable glanced from the corner of his eye, "Me, or my dear brother?"

"What the hell are you doing here, Regulus?" Remus asked, trying to ignore the fact that Regulus knew he was seeing Sirius, "In fact, I don't want to know. Just turn around and leave."

Before Regulus could answer, footfalls could heard upstairs and then on the stairs, rapidly approaching. Remus panicked, wondering what the worst case scenario could be for your boyfriend finding out that you had shagged his younger brother in school. He didn't have any time to even attempt to open the door let alone push Regulus through it, when Sirius stopped beside Remus and proceeded to stare blankly.

-BREAK-

Sirius was lying in bed, waiting for Remus to tell whoever was at the door to get lost so they could continue their kiss and go a little further. He was oddly happy that Remus had confided his illness in him. Normally, he wouldn't care, or would pretend to care for the moment until he had slept with him, but this time…this time he saw it as proof that Remus cared about what he thought of him and didn't want to run. Which meant he wanted to stay together for an undisclosed amount of time.

A happy flush heated his face as he contemplated a future together, before he sat up again, blinking rapidly as he realised where his thoughts were rapidly headed. Wasn't it far too early to be thinking about such serious things? Probably. In all honestly, he didn't know; the only long-term relationship he had ever been in was the arranged marriage his parents had put him in. The bitch had stolen his credit cards after he had helped her escape to Paris to find her real fiancé, so he couldn't say he had much stock in long-term things.

Voices floated up the stairs and through the open door, allowing Sirius to hear snippets of the conversation. He could only catch Remus' surprised voice asking what the hell the person was doing here-

Sirius froze in the process of scratching his nose when he heard the name. It couldn't be. Not here. How the hell would he find him _here_? Bolting up and out of bed, he rushed down the stairs to come to a stop beside Remus, staring at his brother. He had changed since the last time he had seen him, with his expensive coat and suit. His hair, once shaggy and casual in a similar style to Remus', was now a professional cut that made his eyes look colder than usual.

"How did you find me here?" Sirius asked quietly.

"Mother has her contacts." Regulus answered, giving Remus a glance Sirius didn't miss, "But I'm not here because of her."

"Are you here for Remus?" Sirius asked coldly, noting the surprised look Regulus was wearing, "It sounded like you two know each other from upstairs."

"We do have a history." Regulus nodded, shifted his gaze to Remus again. Sirius' skin prickled at the sight of his brother eyeing Remus so frequently and somehow so intimately. He glanced at Remus beside him to see the complex coloured eyes watching his brother right back and felt a painful tug in his stomach.

"Why don't we go a sit down to talk?" Remus asked, his voice sounding a little forced. Sirius nodded, leading the other two into Remus' front room in an obvious show of possession, showing Regulus that he knew his way around _his_ boyfriend's home. Sirius caught Regulus eyeing the sofa and deliberately sat down on the armchair by the window, pulling Remus down onto his lap. There was an awkward silence until Remus untangled himself to turn the electric fire on and Regulus stood to take his coat off and lay it carefully on the seat beside him. Sirius curled one hand around Remus' hip as he watched his brother, aware that he was acting possessively and unable to consciously do anything about it.

"Start talking." Remus said suddenly, surprising Sirius with the hard tone of voice. Sirius frowned, something catching his eye, and grasped Remus' head to turn him towards him. Running his thumb across Remus' wet lips, Sirius looked over at his brother and saw the same glistening sheen on his mouth as someone who had just been kissed. Standing up and unceremoniously pushing Remus from his lap, Sirius went at Regulus without thinking, but was stopped by Remus grabbing his arm and yanking him back.

"You keep your hands off him." Sirius growled, his chest heaving as he glared at his brother. He shook Remus off him, but stayed where he was, "Just, stay away, Reg."

Regulus raised his eyebrows at the old nickname that Sirius hadn't been able to stop himself from using as a habit, "Does it upset you that I slept with him first, brother?"

"OUT." Remus shouted, pushing past Sirius before he could react, "Get _out_."

"Fine." Regulus huffed, standing and swinging his coat over his shoulders, "I'll be down the road while you two sort out your marital problems. I'll come back in a few hours."

Sirius was about to laugh tell him not to bother, but was startled by Remus nodded quietly and waving a hand to tell his brother to leave quickly. When the front door closed, Sirius turned on Remus, furious.

"You let him touch you," he accused, his anger instantly falling through when Remus turned to meet his eyes remorsefully, "He kissed you, didn't he? You're letting him come back after he's kissed you."

"He did." Remus nodded truthfully, "But I'm not going to let you stand in my home and accuse me of anything, Sirius. I pushed him off the moment he touched me, understand?"

Sirius nodded, watching the other man's eyes and decided that he was telling the truth, despite his lingering discomfort about letting Regulus near him again. Remus seemed to understand, because he pressed himself up against Sirius and kissed him. Sirius stumbled back at the force behind it and understood that Remus needed some sort of confirmation that he was forgiven. He was only too happy to comply.

They sunk quickly to the floor, narrowly avoiding the coffee table as they settled back against the sofa, their mouths still locked and busy. Sirius moaned at the feeling of Remus' hands roaming over his chest, brushing his nipples teasingly.

"I've waited too long to have you." Remus breathed raggedly once he had pulled away and swung his leg over Sirius' to straddle him, "And watching you acting so possessive has made me need you more than ever."

Sirius made no answer, pulling Remus' face down to kiss him again before leaving his lips to lick and nip his way down his neck to his chest, choosing the already stiff left nipple and sucking it into his mouth before grazing it with his teeth. Remus moaned and clutched Sirius' head closer. The rumble of Remus' pleasure vibrated through his chest and in Sirius' lips, sending jolts of arousal straight to his crotch. Deciding that he couldn't wait for much longer than the three weeks he had already waited since meeting Remus, Sirius manoeuvred him so he was lying on his back on the rough carpet and leant down to kiss him again.

"Ouch! Shit." Sirius cursed when he hit his head on the corner of the coffee table. Remus laughed loudly as Sirius grinned and pushed the table away, but the laughs quickly turned into sighs of need and arousal when Sirius' mouth descended onto his skin and moved down his chest and stomach, giving attention to each of his tattoos, to pause at the waist band of the his pyjamas. Sirius looked up to see Remus watching him with dark eyes and hooked his thumbs under the pyjamas and pull them slowly over the other man's hips, revealing the last of the tattooed messages. His grin widened when Remus' hard cock was freed and bobbed before him invitingly, but waited patiently until he had slid the pyjamas all the way off and discarded them behind him. Remus, though, wasn't as patient.

"Shit, Sirius," Remus hissed, "Hurry the fuck up, I'm aching up here."

Sirius laughed, but didn't rush as he ran his hands slowly up Remus' toned legs, the soft hair tickling his palms, until he reached his thighs. Remus groaned and begged him to hurry again when Sirius massaged his thighs firmly, pointedly ignoring the one spot that begged to be paid attention.

"I'm gonna—" Remus started, but his threat was cut off when Sirius descended on him suddenly, taking the heated head of his cock into his mouth and giving a hard suck. "Oh my god!" Remus cried as Sirius' pulled off to run his tongue up the underside of his erection and lapped up the precum from the tip, "Fucking hell, Sirius, fucking hell!"

Sirius grinned at how undone he was able to make Remus and took his mouth fully this time, slowly taking as much as he could into his throat. The sounds Remus was making now were indecipherable and had evolved into nonsensical mutterings and praises and begging as he wrapped his hands in Sirius' hair and gave small thrusts up into his mouth. Sirius concentrated on stopping himself from gagging for a second before holding Remus' hips down to hum contentedly as he pulled up slowly with a long, hard suck.

"Oh, _oh, shit!_" Remus cried, throwing his head back, "Sirius, I-I'm gonna…"

_Not yet, you're not_, Sirius thought hotly as he let Remus' cock slide from his mouth with a lewd pop. Remus groaned, looking down at Sirius in urgent need. Sirius nearly gave in to that look, but shook his head with a small smile.

"Lube?" he asked shortly, needing to hurry before he came at the mere sight of a seriously debauched Remus sprawled on the floor before him. Remus nodded breathlessly, pointing to his pyjamas. Sirius reached for them and found a small bottle in the pocket, along with a couple of condoms. He squeezed some of the lube onto his fingers and smirked down at Remus. "You little minx. You've been waiting for this, haven't you?"

Remus nodded, spreading his legs and lifting them to allow Sirius access to his most intimate parts. Sirius moaned at the sight of the puckered entrance, but quickly leapt into action. He pressed his lube-covered fingers against Remus' arse and slipped a finger in slowly, relishing in the delicious sounds coming from the other man's mouth.

"More." Remus gasped, his hips bucking off the floor. Sirius obeyed eagerly, slipping in a second finger and soon, a third. Remus was a gibbering mess by the time the fingers left his hole. Sirius quickly kicked his own pyjamas off and ripped one of the condoms open with his teeth to roll it over himself. He coated his aching cock with the cool lube and moved to kneel between Remus' spread legs. "God, Sirius, I need you inside me." Remus moaned as Sirius positioned himself at his entrance, "I want you to fuck me, Sirius."

Sirius let out a shaky breath, wondering if he had the time to be patient, and pushed in slowly. Remus cried out when the head was in and Sirius paused, thinking that he had hurt the other man. His assumption was proved wrong though, thank god, when Remus pressed his heels into Sirius' arse and pushed the rest of his cock into him in one, swift motion.

"Oh yeah," Remus breathed, closing his eyes as he adjusted to the feeling, "Shit."

Sirius leaned down to give Remus a sloppy, open-mouthed kiss before moving to bite the lobe of his ear gently, "What do you want?" he whispered in Remus' ear, fighting all natural urges and staying sill inside him, "Tell me how you want it."

"I want you to fuck me," Remus gasped digging his fingers into Sirius' hips, "Hard."

Sirius drew his hips back slowly, drawing a whimper from his loved, before snapping back down and thrusting hard into Remus. Remus cried out with every one of Sirius' thrusts, urging him to move faster and fuck him harder. Sirius obliged and soon reached the point of no return. He made to help Remus along, but before he could wrap his hand around Remus' cock, the other man convulsed and howled as he came over himself, his eyes shut tightly. The feeling of Remus' muscles tightening unbearably around him sealed the deal and Sirius bit down on Remus' neck as he came. They lay still for a while as they rode out the afterglow of their orgasms, before Sirius slid out of Remus slowly and rolled onto the floor beside him.

"Good?" Sirius asked suddenly as he discarded the used condom, surprising himself with the question. He had never needed affirmation of his talents before – he knew he was good, so why was he asking Remus now and sounding like a fifteen year old girl as he did? Remus didn't seem to mind Sirius' weird insecurities, though. He turned onto his side and draped a leg and an arm over Sirius' body and shuffled closer.

"Bloody damned good." His lover confirmed as he pressed his face into Sirius' neck, "Although I think I'm going to bruise where you bit me."

"Sorry about that." Sirius apologise sheepishly, "I've never done that before."

"It was hot." Remus admitted, lifting his head briefly to smirk at Sirius and kiss him briefly. Sirius marvelled that he felt more comfortable than even with the other man, even if he hadn't thought that was possible, and he realised it was because they were both finally in their comfort zones. Sex was the only thing their pasts had in common. What would happen next, Sirius didn't know. He hoped it would involve more of what they had just done, but also, more tea-making and lying in bed talking. It was an odd desire, to want something in a non-sexual way, but Sirius was beginning to enjoy the feeling.

"We should probably get dressed." Remus murmured, his fingers tracing across Sirius' chest absentmindedly, "I don't trust that Reggie's idea of a few hours matches with ours."

Sirius stiffened at the use of a pet name for his brother, but pointedly ignored it and the suggestion to get up and get dressed. Instead, he touched his favourite tattoo on the side of Remus' neck. _Magnificent shag._

"Do I get a tattoo?" he asked softly.

"No." Remus said after a long pause, "Only the guys I see once do that."

"Which one's Reg's?" Sirius asked, wishing the moment the words had left his mouth that they hadn't. He felt Remus tense next to him and untangle them quickly. Sirius closed his eyes as Remus got to his feet and yanked his pyjamas on.

"Nice, Sirius." Remus snapped as he stormed from the room. Sirius opened his eyes when he heard Remus turn the kettle on in the kitchen and bustle around taking out mugs. He heard two mugs being set down on the counter and knew Remus was still making him tea despite the stupidity he had displayed with his question.

"Smooth." Sirius sighed to himself, curling his fingers into a fist and ramming them into the floor in frustration. He rolled up to a sitting position and wriggled into his pyjamas, feeling suddenly stupid lying naked on the floor.

**A/N2: **Well, I suppose I should apologise, first, if that whole scene read like the script of a bad porno...moving on, how clever am I for incorporating both an old flame and Sirius' family causing trouble into one character? Huh, _huh_, _HUH? _Yeah, yeah, I know. Pretty damn genius, right? I've always said 'ew' to Remus/Regulus stories, but it just seemed to work here, so I hope I haven't given anyone any reasons to kill me for this…anyway, review and you get another chapter, my pretties.


	8. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer: **Isn't mine. It will be, though. It will be… *evil grin*

**A/N:** Thank you _again_ for your reviews ^-^ I'm really enjoying writing this story, surprisingly. I've got no clue whatsoever where it's going, but hey, it's fun! It's sort of like my stress reliever, too – I've just come back from my evening driving lesson and honestly, the amount of times I stalled…I seriously wished I was American and didn't have to deal with the gear stick and that _bloody fucking clutch_. Ahem. But yeah, when I get the hang of it, I'm a pretty damn good driver, but then, WHAM, a rogue police car appears from nowhere from a junction and I panic and randomly shift to first for no reason whilst slamming the clutch and the brake down at the same time -.- Anyway, I digress. Badly. Enjoy!

"Look, Remus, I'm sorry." Sirius started as he slouched into the kitchen. Remus watched him over the rim of his mug as he sipped his tea. Admittedly, his anger at the other man had faded as quickly as it had come, his body still buzzing from his orgasm. It was silly to be angry at such a reasonable question; if it was so obvious that he had slept with Regulus, then Sirius should be the one who was angry, not Remus.

"It's fine. I made you tea." Remus smiled half-heartedly. They stood silently for a moment, Remus stealing glances at Sirius and catching him doing the same thing. It was oddly awkward, making small talk after sex. Usually, for Remus anyway, they left straight after and he was left to stretch out alone in his bed and snooze till for as long as he pleased. This time he had Sirius to deal with and his brother, both of whom had the worst sense of timing. Remus wondered whether Regulus was his or Sirius' baggage.

"What's wrong?" Sirius asked, ignoring the mug of hot tea and moving to lean back against the counter beside Remus and giving him a sidelong glance, "Apart from the fact that I'm an insensitive idiot."

Remus smiled slightly, but then paused, moving to set his half-empty mug down, "I don't know, Sirius. I have tattoos of my ex shags' messages all over my body, your little brother just turned up at the door, we just had sex even though…" he trailed off, his dry tone softening a little, "Take your pick."

"Why don't we start from the beginning?" Sirus suggested, his voice hard, "I've already told you that your tattoos don't bother me – well, until I found out that one of them is my kid brother's. Yeah, I guess there is an issue with my brother suddenly turning up on your doorstep, but let's skip straight to the last one. What the hell was the problem with us having sex?"

Remus turned at the rising level of Sirius' voice, meeting his darkening eyes. He felt himself shut down, his emotions hidden by a wall he brought down when he was close to letting someone too far in. It was a knee-jerk reaction and he couldn't help it, even if he wanted to stop it. Sirius seemed to see the change in his face, because he reached out, but Remus spoke before he could even try, "We were both angry and just needed to let off steam." He said flatly, turning away to leave the kitchen and start up the stairs, Sirius following close behind.

"Are you trying to say that just because it happened after right Reg left, it didn't mean anything?" Sirius demanded heatedly as they entered the bedroom. Remus made to answer that yes, it probably didn't mean anything, but he was grabbed roughly and shoved against the wardrobe. Sirius let him go instantly, his expression an odd mixture of contrition and irritation, "Sorry I get a little…sorry."

"It's fine." Remus shrugged, rubbing his arm and wondering where his painkillers had gotten to. Sirius hadn't hurt him, but he was starting to feel a little delicate again after the 'exercise' he had had downstairs. Sirius had other ideas than letting him leave, though, as he pinned him against the wardrobe again, although he was gentler this time.

"No, no it's not." Sirius sighed, sounding as though he was struggling with this confrontation externally as much as Remus was internally. He ran a hand through his hair as he regarded Remus with a frown, "What makes you think it didn't mean anything, Remus? Do you know how long I've been waiting to…I mean, I know we did it on the floor and I hit my head on the table, I think I'm going to have a bruise which will look just _great_ and like you said, we _were_ both pretty pissed off, but—"

"Sirius." Remus said, a smile cracking through his barriers. The other man stopped talking and looked at him expectantly. "You're not making a lot of sense."

"Right." Sirius nodded, chewing on his lower lip, "Right, well…err…I guess I mean that the circumstances didn't matter. I was so over the moon that we finally made love and you said that thing about not wanting me to have a tattoo because you want to see me again and then…well, I said something stupid and _this_ happened." He finished, gesturing between them with a nervous laugh, "Look, I'm not good at this. I don't talk about problems, I just run away or ignore them."

"I've never _had_ problems." Remus admitted with a small shrug, "They don't usually stay long enough for there to be any. Also, for the record, what you said was stupid."

"Stupid." Sirius nodded, leaning in to kiss Remus briefly.

"And hurtful." Remus added.

"Mmm, hurtful." Sirius repeated, moving to kiss his neck softly.

"And…"

Sirius pulled back, giving Remus an amused smirk, "And?"

"Who cares?" Remus asked with a smile, feeling the last of his wards crumble at Sirius' answering grin. "Sorry for overreacting back there. I don't want to mess this up just because you asked a perfectly legit question. If you want to know which—"

"I don't." Sirius said quickly, shaking his head, "Really, I don't. Maybe one day, but not when I know he's about to come back here looking all smug and self-satisfied."

"Understood." Remus nodded solemnly, "I'll kick him out once he explains how the hell he found me here. I didn't tell anyone from school where I moved to."

Sirius kissed him one last time before leaning back and giving Remus room to move. "Maybe we should have a talk?" he suggested, gesturing towards the bed, "I don't want Regulus to have one up on me."

Remus felt his usual answer of 'no, it's none of your business' creep up from his chest, but he consciously ignored his discomfort and went to the bed to sit beside an expectant Sirius. He wound his hands together, uncertain of where to start.

"Why don't you start with the tattoos?" Sirius prompted.

-BREAK-

"Why don't you start with the tattoos?" Sirius suggested, seeing that Remus was having some trouble within himself about opening up to him. He knew because Sirius himself felt the same. Even though it was selfish, he couldn't help but hope that Remus wouldn't ask him to return the favour and tell him about his own past.

"The tattoos, right." Remus sighed, rubbing his arm unconsciously. Sirius noticed the gesture and stood to walk around to the other side of the bed and retrieve the box of tablets and the glass of water left there from earlier. Remus accepted them with a grateful smile and continued after swallowing a couple colourful capsules. "I suppose I was depressed and I needed an outlet."

Sirius frowned – depressed? Outlet? Surely that didn't mean…?

"I didn't get them for the pain, if that's what you're thinking." Remus said dryly as he observed Sirius' expression, "My parents weren't as fond as me as they might have been after the illness kicked in when I was a child. They packed me off to the same boarding school as Reggie—"

"Don't call him that." Sirius snapped, unable to stop himself. Remus gave him a surprised look.

"What?"

"Just…don't call him that."

"They sent me to the same school as Regulus," Remus corrected without questioning Sirius further, for which he was grateful, "But it wasn't until the last year when I…"

"When you slept with him." Sirius finished for him, unable to keep the bitterness from his voice, "I should have known. The only good thing I've got and my family still ruin it for me."

"Oh, so now I'm ruined?" Remus snapped, "Damaged goods."

Sirius pulled him back down when he started to stand and sighed heavily, "No, no. You know I didn't mean it like that. I don't exactly have the most caring mother and…look, I'll explain later. You carry on."

"Right." Remus nodded reluctantly, "Well there's not much to say really. It was the first affection I'd felt from anyone in years, even though it wasn't real affection I didn't know it at the time. I wanted a way to remember that someone could feel something for me and—"

"The tattoos happened." Sirius finished for him, unable to stop his eyes from roving over the ink across the other man's body. He wanted to know which one his brother had written, but at the same time he didn't. What if he couldn't bear to touch Remus once he knew, or even look at him? Sirius didn't know if he could handle that. At least, not without a few six packs of beer and maybe a joint or two.

"Exactly." Remus nodded, "That's it, really. Why did you go to a different school to your brother?"

"Because I'm a disgrace to my family and have no appreciation for high society." Sirius reeled off robotically, before smiling at Remus and translating, "I did everything I could to piss my bitch of a mother and bribed the cook to put hot sauce in our guests' food."

Remus laughed, throwing his head back and clapping Sirius on the thigh. Sirius watched with a grin, hoping that he could be the cause of more reactions like that and less like the one downstairs. When he had sobered up, Remus tilted his head in a silent request for him to continue.

"They pulled me out the year Reg – and you – was going to start and put me in another one on the other side of London. It was the best thing that ever happened to me. If I hadn't have gone to a different school, I never would have met James." Sirius paused before giving Remus a deliberately charming smile, "Of course, staying wouldn't have been too bad either, if I would have met you."

"Such a charmer." Remus grinned, throwing Sirius one of those smirks and a wink that made him go weak at the knees. Thank god he was already sitting down. "So what about that engagement. Don't think I've forgotten about that, I want details."

Sirius gulped, not feeling quite ready to go into detail about how his mother still had some control over him despite his bitching about her and his father. He knew it was hardly fair, as he had just demanded Remus to give him information he hadn't wanted to give, too. Luckily, he was saved by the sound of the knocker on the front door. Remus sighed, giving Sirius a look that meant he wouldn't forget about their conversation, and got to his feet.

"Back in a minute." He said over his shoulder as he left the room, "I'll let him in and then come back up to see what clothes I can lend you."

-BREAK-

Remus jogged down the stairs, fully aware that he was still shirtless and thoroughly debauched, still smelling strongly of sex and his hair ruffled. He felt as though he had Sirius' mark on him as he opened the front door. A mark that would show Regulus that whatever he had come here to do, it wouldn't work.

"You must stop showing up when I'm in the middle of being fucked through my shitty mattress." Remus sighed, deliberately dropping his voice low and making it husky as he swung the door open to glare at Regulus. Except Regulus wasn't there. The postman stood with a package in his hand, staring at Remus in speechless shock. "Oh." Remus frowned, taking the paper to sign for the package and the pen, both of which were held out in the postman's other hand. "Sorry about that, thought you were my boyfriend's brother. My ex." He added to clarify. The postman nodded distractedly and Remus was amused to catch his eyes drifting down his body subtly.

"Cheers, mate." Remus grinned, giving the postman a wink as he exchanged the signed paper and pen for the package. He closed the door in the staring man's face and turned to see Sirius standing at the top of the stairs with a smirk on his face.

"Hitting on postmen behind my back?" he asked in mock offence as Remus went back up to him, ripping over the package on his way up leaving a trail of paper on his way.

"Well, I do have a thing for men in uniform." Remus smirked coyly. By the time he reached the top, he was grinning happily and pulling an oversized, red knit jumper over his head.

"Let's go find you something to wear." Remus suggested, pulling Sirius into the bedroom and flinging open the doors of his small wardrobe. Sirius came up behind him and laughed at the sight of the dozens of jumpers and pairs of worn jeans that took up over half of the space. The rest was packed with his t-shirts and newer jeans, along with his button up shirts and a couple of blazers.

"Take whatever you want." Remus offered, "Just ignore the inappropriate amount of misshapen jumpers. I think I have a problem, I just can't stop buying them."

"I think they're sweet." Sirius grinned, pressing up close behind Remus and reached around to pull a large brown jumper from its hanger. He told Remus sincerely that it was his favourite one as he slipped it on and turned to look in the full length mirror on the inside of the wardrobe door. "Yep, definitely my favourite."

"The _brown_ one?" Remus laughed. Sirius pulled him closer again, wrapping his arms around him from behind and resting his chin on his shoulder. Remus leaned his cheek against Sirius' and smiled at their reflection. "I'm glad we're okay." He murmured with a content sigh. There was that odd feeling again – the feeling of comfort around Sirius that contrasted oddly with the feeling of uncertainty of what he should do. Having never been in a relationship, Remus felt as though he was floundering, clueless, as he went through each day with Sirius. The other man appeared nervous occasionally, though, so he supposed he wasn't alone.

"We look good together, don't we?" Sirius said softly, his hands slipping under Remus' jumper and resting against his stomach comfortably. Remus considered their refection and couldn't help but agree; whether or not it was vain to think so, they were both attractive men, so they seemed equal despite the contrast in their appearances. Remus admitted that, with his unruly golden hair and peaceful smile, he looked good against Sirius' lustrous black tresses and playful grin. They completed each other and the fact hit Remus at that moment, but before he could answer, they heard the front door downstairs open and close. The atmosphere immediately plummeted.

"That wasn't a few hours." Sirius sulked.

**A/N2:** Okay, wow that was boring. Apologies, dearies. Review for another chapter! I know where you live if you don't…okay, I'm lying. But it's the thought that counts, _right_? Anyway, I'm thinking about maybe, perchance, perhaps, possibly, ending the fic soon? I don't know what the plot is yet, so I don't know how I would do that, but if anyone's got any ideas/requests, you know what to do! I'll do my best with them. Also, if anyone remembers, Sirius got his nipples pierced way back in Chapter 1 - don't worry I haven't forgotten (I totally forgot), so they'll be making their appearance soon ;) R&R! :3


	9. Chapter 9

**Disclaimer: **The ideas aren't even mine, guys.

**A/N: **Okay, so either you guys are angry at me for saying I might finish this fic soon, or the last chapter bored the leopard print thongs off you…I only got one review! Thank you, **hato-ryou-chan **and **gobalcus**, by the way, your reviews always make me want to hug you (^-^) Also, special thanks to **New-fanfictionaddict **for making me see the true value of Tonks, I really— Help! I'm being held at gunpoint if I don't— *gun goes off and lumos dies a gruesome death*

"Make it quick, Regulus, I've got things to be doing." Remus said shortly as Sirius followed him into his front room where his brother was waiting patiently. Sirius smirked at the stress Remus put deliberately on his last word, but his smirk morphed into as smug grin when Regulus frowned at the use of his full name. Regulus' eyes narrowed at Sirius suspiciously, who shrugged nonchalantly in response.

"Skip the rival brother's part." Remus snapped impatiently, "Sirius doesn't like me using a nickname with you, Regulus, so I'm not going to. Simply as that. There's no reason for me to appease you over him, is there?"

"Sirius, one. Regulus, nil." Sirius chuckled, smacking Remus on the arse lightly as the other man crossed in front of him to flop down onto the sofa. Remus turned to give him a flirtatious wink and Sirius' grin, if possible, grew even wider with glee at his lover's willingness to allow him to show their relationship off in front of his brother.

"Fair enough." Regulus nodded after sending Sirius a glare and making to sit beside Remus. Not about to allow such a thing to happen right under his nose, Sirius skipped straight past him and bounced onto the cushions beside Remus and draping an arm across his shoulders. Regulus sighed quickly, his brows knitting together. Sirius was aware that he was acting like a jealous knob, but much to his delight, Remus didn't seem to care. In fact, he endorsed Sirius' knob-like behaviour by resting his head on his shoulder.

"You can sit down, Regulus." Remus said innocently.

"I think I'll stand, thank you." Regulus answered stiffly.

"Sore loser." Sirius muttered.

"Mother sent me." Regulus said loudly over Sirius, seemingly growing irritated with his older brother's behaviour. That shut Sirius up. "She's been made aware that you've been involved with a man and she wants to know why you aren't with your fiancé. You know, the one with whom you supposedly eloped to France?"

Regulus watched Remus smugly, obviously waiting for his indignant reaction at the news of Sirius' previous engagement. The only flaw in his plan was that Remus already knew about Sirius' ex-fiancé. Sirius smirked at Regulus' pout and squeezed Remus slightly, more for his own comfort at the mention of his mother than for the other man's sake.

"What about her?" Sirius asked bitterly, "I've already told the old hag I want nothing more to do with her and her prejudiced arseholes of 'friends'. No, actually, forget about that – she knows and you know that I'm not going back there. Ever. So what I really want to know is how you found me."

"How do you know I wasn't looking for Remus?" Regulus smirked, quirking an eyebrow suggestively. It was an expression Sirius had taught his kid brother back when they had gotten along as a way to get girls. There were no words for how much Sirius hated seeing that look on that face, now.

"Don't go there, Regulus." Remus snorted, lifting his head off Sirius' shoulder to give Regulus a sarcastic eye roll, "I don't care about whatever the hell you've come here to tell Sirius if I'm being honest, so I've got no qualms about asking him to kick your sorry arse outside and locking the door."

Sirius glanced at Remus with no small amount of appreciation. Obviously Remus cared about what Regulus was there for – they had been friends through school and he would have been curious on Sirius' behalf too. Sirius knew he would if their positions were reversed, anyway. Even more so, he was quite aroused by tough guy Remus…

"Mother has eyes everywhere, you know that, Sirius." Regulus spat, quickly recognising that he was fighting a losing battle with the pair of them. Sirius hoped he gave up soon, or he would have to jump Remus with his kid brother in the room. Remus' hand was moving dangerously close to his crotch, obviously no longer caring about Regulus' business in his home. "She has people keeping an eye on you."

"Oh, so she'd know already that your brother fucked me into the floor the moment you left?" Remus asked innocently, batting his lashes up at Regulus. Sirius chuckled, turning to give Remus a fond kiss on the lobe of his ear just as his lover's hand crept further up his thigh. Evidently, Remus was feeling the same way he was – exhilaration to have their secrets out in the open for each other to see and not have the other turn away in disgust. Remus had laid himself bare for Sirius upstairs and here Regulus was, giving Remus the gist of what Sirus hadn't been quite ready to tell and what sort of family he had – and he wasn't running. It was somewhat _exciting_ to know that someone accepted everything about him. Not to mention, Sirius couldn't stop glancing at the coffee table that was still out of place after hitting his head on it before…

Sirius cleared his throat and turned his attention back to Regulus, who currently appeared as though he was having a coronary at the thought of standing in the place where his brother had had sex with his ex.

"I can see that I'm not going to be able to get through to you." Regulus said, his voice shaking with anger at being humiliated by the pair of them, "I suppose I'll have to leave and tell our mother that she was right. You _are_ a traitor."

"That's right." Sirius nodded uncaringly, waving an imperious hand to shoo his brother away, "A traitor for wanting to be happy instead of marrying a stranger."

"I'll probably be back though, you know how she is." Regulus continued nonchalantly, starting towards the door. Remus got to his feet to show him out, but stopped when Regulus did. "It was good to see you again, Remus."

Sirius watched as his brother smiled at Remus and then looked deliberately at him as he reached up to brush the side of Remus' neck. Remus froze, his eyes widening in horror as Sirius' mind clicked with realisation. That tattoo…

He was on his feet in seconds, but before he could do anything – still unsure of who he was rushing towards, Remus or Regulus – Regulus was already stumbling backwards, clutching his face in shock. Remus stood over him, his fists clenched as his chest heaved. Sirius stopped in his tracks, staring at the man whom he had so far witnessed punch two people and do a bloody good job of it both times. He knew first-hand, seeing as he had given Sirius a fair cuff, too.

"How _dare_ you!" Remus seethed, advancing of Regulus, who scrambled to his feet and backed away with a look of pure surprise, "_How dare you_? I've already managed to work out that there's some sort of feud between the two of you because of the petty shots you're throwing at each other, but that gives you _no_ right to involve me in this."

"Rem, I—" Regulus started, but Remus cut him off furiously.

"Don't call me that." Remus growled, "It's fair enough if you want to have these childish fights with your brother, but what gives you the impression that you have the right to make his life miserable?" he touched his neck absent-mindedly, Sirius' eyes following the movement and tracing over his once-favoured inking, "It wasn't your place to tell him, it was mine."

"He's my brother." Regulus spat, "Of course I have the right! He abandoned me to our bitch of a mother—"

"I begged you come with me!" Sirius cried in exasperation, throwing his hands up, "I told you I was running away to France and begged you to come with me, but you turned me down for a career of corrupt politicians and sleazy bribes."

"I never believed that for a second," his brother sneered, "You never cared about me, not when we were kids and not now."

"You go ahead and believe that." Sirus nodded, rubbing the side of his neck tiredly, before realising that his eyes were still on that tattoo. Tearing his gaze away with no small amount of difficulty, he sighed and looked back at his brother. Regulus wasn't looking at him, though. He was watching Remus.

"Contact me if you ever get bore of him." Regulus smirked, producing a small card from his coat pocket and flicking it onto the coffee table. He turned to sneer at Sirius as he continued to address Remus, "The address of the hotel I'm staying at is on the back."

Sirius' vision went red and before he knew what he was doing, he had flown at Regulus, his hands grabbing at his brother's expensive coat. He heard Remus' shouts and felt him trying to hold him back, but his strength must have been used up by hitting Regulus. A streak of concern for Remus gave pause to Sirius, but he ignored it and gave way to his anger and frustration by dragging Regulus towards him and lifting his knee to jam it in his crotch. Regulus dodged the attack, though, and wrestled himself from Sirius' grip. Remus pushed Sirius back with a firm hand on his shoulder and proceeded to shove Regulus to the front door.

"Get out." Remus was saying firmly when Sirius had attempted to calm himself before following them to the door. Regulus was attempting to say goodbye to him, but Remus was talking over him stubbornly, "Get out of my house. _Out_."

Regulus glanced at Sirius, his eyes dropping to the brown jumper he wore. An unreadable expression crossed his face briefly before he reached out to pull Remus to him and smash their mouths together. There was only contact for half a second, but in that time Sirius had managed to race across the hallway and leap at his younger brother again. Remus got there before him, shoving Regulus away and out the door.

"_Bastard!_" Sirius screamed, spitting in his brother's face when Remus got a hold of him around the waist and dragged him back inside.

"Son of a bitch." Regulus muttered, wiping his face with his sleeve as he turned and started off down the street. Sirius wanted to shout a smart-arse response, but Remus slammed the door shut in his face and hauled him back into the front room, where he pushed him down onto the sofa.

"Fucking idiot brothers." Remus muttered, wiping the back of his hand across his mouth as Sirius watched him warily. The other man paced before him for a moment, before stopping to push the coffee table back into place. "Should just throw you out on the street." He added with a reproachful glance at Sirius before he turned and made to leave the room.

-BREAK-

Remus pushed Regulus towards the door, hell bent on seeing that he left right then, or he wouldn't be able to keep the two brothers away from each other for much longer. He yanked the door open and went to push Regulus out, but he had caught sight of Sirius over his shoulder again. The next thing he knew, Regulus had forced his tongue into Remus' mouth, his fingers clutching bruisingly at his shoulders.

Disgusted, Remus shoved him away and turned just in time catch Sirius around the waist, no longer surprised by the hatred in his expression or the animosity of his attack. Sirius struggled, but Remus only strengthened his hold and started to drag him back over the threshold. When the front door was closed, Remus dragged the other man through to sit him down like an errant child.

"Fucking idiot brothers." He cursed under his breath, kicking the coffee table back into place. He glanced at Sirius before cursing again and wiping the taste of his brother from his lips with the back of his hand. It didn't work though, so he scowled and added, "Should just throw you out on the street."

Sirius only stared at him, so he huffed and turned to go and fetch their mugs from upstairs and wash them with the mugs he made in the kitchen. He tended to have a lot of mugs lying around, as his habit was to make a lot of tea if there were problems. Sirius seemed to take his exit as something else, however. Remus turned when he felt a hand on his back, to see Sirius' determined face a split second before he was in his lover's arms.

The kiss wasn't angry, or even passionate. It was almost chaste, apart from the way Sirius' tongue dominated Remus' mouth, but was void of any sexual intentions. Remus, puzzled and slightly breathless, pulled away to lift his brows at the other man. Sirius gave him a small, sheepish smile and shrugged. Remus let go of his irritation and gave a low chuckle.

"Mmm," he hummed, running his hands through Sirius' hair, "Thanks for that, I had a bad taste in my mouth." He tilted his head and paused before continuing, "Aren't you curious about what he really came here for?"

"Of course." Sirius shrugged, "But that doesn't mean I'm going to ask.

"You should call." Remus frowned, "He isn't going to cause problems is he? Not more than he already has?"

Sirius chose to answer with another mind-numbing kiss. Well, on any other occasion it might have been mind-numbing; Remus had things to do. Running his hands slowly down his lover's chest, he found what he was looking for and gave Sirius' nipples a hard flick each, relishing in the surprised moan in his mouth. Just as Sirius started to press against him, his hand running up Remus' side to cup his neck as he usually did – but the hand pulled away abruptly when it brushed _that_ tattoo by habit. Remus pulled away from him completely, uncomfortable with the sudden uncertainty Sirius was now showing. Sirius seemed hurt, though, as if he didn't know what he had done. Remus smacked his arse with a pert grin to alleviate the tension, much like Sirius had to him earlier, and jabbed his thumb over his shoulder.

"I've got washing up to do. You go get dressed and we'll visit James and Lily." He suggested as he backed away. Sirius followed, turning to the stairs with a dramatic sigh at having to do something productive. Remus turned to the kitchen, calling after him, "I'm sure they'll want to hear about what happened last night."

"Shit!" Sirius could be heard saying upstairs, seeming to remember that the Potters had no idea of the mugging and what had happened to both him and Remus the previous night. For all they knew – or for all James was preaching, at any rate – Sirius had cheated on Remus and they had broken up when he had followed him back to the house. James had probably explained Sirius bruises on his latest squeeze's partner coming home and catching him with some woman. Remus snorted at James' overactive imagination and went to the task of washing the mugs already downstairs.

The kitchen darkened as he worked, the clouds outside gathering overhead as they readied London for an onslaught of forecasted rain. Remus sighed as he scrubbed one of his favourite mugs – the one with a cute black dog on it – and peered outside, only to be met by his own reflection in the glass. His eyes were drawn down to the tattoo on his neck. A soapy hand raised unconsciously from the suds in the sink to touch the permanent ink gingerly. Never before in his life had he regretted anything like he did those tattoos.

He went back to washing the mugs and some other items left to stand on the counter, stubbornly avoiding his reflection in the window. Would it be his past that would come between him and Sirius, or would it be Sirius' family? As far as Remus could tell, the other man's family were interfering and controlling and he had no idea whether or not Sirius would bend to their rule eventually. He had, after all, nearly married a woman chosen by them, so what would leaving a boyfriend of a couple of weeks be compared to such a huge commitment to keep his mother off his back?

**A/N: **Okay, so I know I said last time that I wanted to finish this soon…yeah, _that_ plan's completely out the window. I had a moment of inspiration for the end, so this is going to have to keep running for a while longer. I hope that won't be too much of a hardship for you all ¬_¬ Anywho, drop a review – they make our boys so happy they just _have_ to celebrate in a way I think you'll like… I'm still open for any ideas anyone wants to see, even if I have got an idea for an ending (it's vague, so whatever), so don't be shy :) R&R if you want to see James' and Lily's reaction to being left in the dark all night :3


	10. Chapter 10

**Disclaimer: **Isn't mine! Dun dun duuuuun. Yeah, you already knew that.

**A/N:** Righty then, sorry for taking longer than I usually do to update. Halloween happened and then I had a monster of a hangover. Then a party happened the next night. Then Fanfic wouldn't let me log on and then I realised I hadn't actually written the end of the chapter. Then I wrote it and then I posted it. Then you read it and — okay, I digress. Enjoy!

"They're gonna kill me." Sirius groaned, "I should have told them, but I wanted to find _you_."

Remus rolled his eyes and reached out to flatten Sirius' shirt beneath his beat up leather jacket. Sirius was wearing his clothes from the day before and they were crumpled and creased, but he couldn't help but love it. The creases were a sign that Sirus had stayed over and a reminder that they hadn't had to have sex to have him do so. The fact that they had the next morning didn't count, of course…

"Don't be a baby," he said fondly, pushing the door to the tattoo parlour open and pushing Sirius in, "They only shout because they love you."

"_SIRIUS ORION BLACK, WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING, DISAPPEARING AFTER TURNING UP WITH A BLACK EYE?_"

Remus chuckled as a redheaded whirlwind rushed at Sirius. He glanced over at James by the counter and smiled, the bespectacled man shaking his head at his wife's antics. Lily smacked Sirius' chest, sparing his face for the bruises, and then threw herself into his arms. Sirius gave James a helpless stare as the woman choked through her mixture of insults and praises for him, so Remus stepped in and pried her away gently, wrapping an arm around her waist comfortingly and restraining her at the same time.

"I was— we were so worried, Sirius!" Lily cried angrily, pressing a hand to the small bump that was starting to form, "I shouldn't be put through something so stressful during my pregnancy!"

"Oh calm down, I only got mugged." Sirius sighed, giving Remus a withering glance.

"_What_?" James asked in shock, "You got mugged?"

"Yeah, but I'm fine. I've phoned all my credit card companies and stuff, so no harm done. Well, apart from the damage to my pretty face." He added jovially. Remus smiled and shook his head when Lily gave him an incredulous glance.

"Fine my arse." James said with raised eyebrows, "Your eye is purple, mate."

"Yeah, but Remus still thinks I'm hot." Sirius shrugged, giving Remus a sly wink, "He's certainly proved that to me. Would have been twice if he hadn't convinced me to come and talk to you two prats."

"Right. Way too much information there." James nodded with a grimace, "That's why I convinced Lily not to follow you to Remus' last night. I told you they'd be doing the dirty, Lils."

Lily made a small, indignant sound and Remus laughed. "We weren't doing anything, really." He shrugged, giving Sirius a look that told the other man that he hadn't forgotten their session of heavy petting last night as well as more that morning. Sirius smirked back and returned his attention to James, who had moved to give him a brotherly clap on the shoulder.

"Well, we're both glad you're okay, mate." James nodded, his voice a little gruff with emotion. He cleared his throat and continued, "And I'm happy that you two worked things out."

"We have your blessing, do we?" Remus asked dryly.

"Yes." James nodded stubbornly. Sirius snorted and took a seat on one of the stools. Lily squeezed Remus around the waist before going to join James by the till. James closed it with an air of finality and checked his watch, "We're off the clock today, shop's closed. You two fancy doing something?"

"Is this another plan to get Remus to see what a bad boyfriend I am?" Sirius asked suspiciously as he pulled Remus away from Lily and pouted, "I won't let you poison his mind anymore!"

"My mind hasn't been poisoned at all," Remus assured him, wrapping his arms around Sirius' waist from behind and resting his chin on his shoulder, "They're just nosey and interfering."

"We are not!" Lily protested in outrage, glancing at James for support. Her husband merely shrugged, so she pulled a face in reluctant defeat, "Yeah, okay. Maybe we are."

"We were just concerned for you both." James added sincerely, "But you've both proved you're not going to do anything stupid, so we'll step back."

"Thanks, mum." Sirius said sarcastically, laying his hands over Remus' on his stomach, "I'm so glad you're letting me see Remus."

"Enough of that," James smirked waving a hand at his friends. He went to bend over the counter and pulled out a leather jacket, holding it out towards Sirius, "Here's your jacket, mate."

"Cheers." Sirius grinned stepping out of Remus' hold to shrug his torn one off and slip the other one on. Remus watched him with interest. As sorry as he was about Sirius' favourite jacket he must admit that he quite liked this one and the way it clung to his body. Sirius caught him staring and winked lavishly as he zipped the jacket up slowly. Remus quirked one side of his mouth up into a smirk, giving Lily the middle finger at the same time when she snorted at their blatant flirting.

"Why don't you go get changed back at your place, Sirius," James suggested, a smile in his voice, "_Before_ Remus jumps you, preferably?"

"Bugger off, James." Remus laughed, tearing his eyes away and mock glaring at James. He turned back to Sirius and patted his backside lightly, "Go on then, get changed. I'll wait here with mum and dad."

Remus missed James' and Lily's objections to their new titles as Sirius had pressed himself up against him to say goodbye with a soft kiss. Remus froze when he felt a hand travelling up his neck. It was a habitual move from Sirius, so it took a moment for the other man to realise what he was doing, Remus waiting the whole time for the other man to notice. He felt Sirius start to pull his hand away and break the kiss.

Remus' heart dropped into his stomach – but then Sirus was kissing him with renewed vigour and clawed his fingers against the tattoo on his neck. Remus moaned softly, bringing his hands around to massage Sirius' lower back, the pain-pleasure sensations of Sirius' nails raking across his inked flesh ridding him of reason and—

"Uh, guys?"

Remus pulled back from Sirius and flushed in embarrassment at having been caught up in the moment. He cleared his throat with a small smile dawning on his face as he rubbed his neck with one hand, feeling the burning there from Sirius' nails. Meanwhile, Sirius was shuffling towards the door, evidently feeling as embarrassed as Remus. He flashed Remus a look from under his lashes as he opened the door, before disappearing outside without a word. Turning back to his friends, Remus shrugged wordlessly.

"You're bleeding!" Lily gasped suddenly, hurrying over to hover her hands over his neck, "How did—?"

"Sirius did it." James frowned, jogging to the other side of the shop to grab a tissue from beside the chair, "I watched him do it." he added as he came back to pass Remus the tissue, "What the hell was that, Remus?"

"Regulus showed up this morning." Remus sighed, dabbing the tissue to his neck and wincing at the sting the soft material provoked. Lily nodded in encouragement for him to keep talking, but Remus was watching James, waiting for him to piece it all together. Remus had been close friends with Lily through school and he was there when she had met James in a bar. She had been there when he had gotten his first few tattoos, but hadn't asked who they were from and why he kept doing it. When James had taken over inking him, he had tried to ask about the first few, intrigued by Remus' story. He had never found out who they were from – until now.

"Oh, shit." James groaned, covering his face with his hands, "You slept with Regulus in school, didn't you?"

Remus looked away, suddenly feeling ashamed even though he hadn't done anything wrong. Lily pulled on his jacket sleeve with a confused frown, "Who's Regulus?"

"Sirius' kid brother." James explained, "You know how he is about his family, Lils."

Lily turned to Remus again, "Tell us what happened this morning."

-BREAK-

Sirius slammed the door to his flat closed and leaned back against it. He closed his eyes and dug his fists into them harshly, ignoring the pain from the bruise around one. When he felt a smooth wetness on his cheek, he pulled his hands away to see blood on the fingers of one hand, under his fingernails. Remus' blood.

Regulus' smirking face floated before him mockingly as he thought about that tattoo, about the way he had looked at Remus, how he had been practically undressing him with his eyes, how he knew what Remus' soft skin felt under his hands and how he knew what made Remus scream for more—

He couldn't bear it, knowing that his arsehole of a brother had been with Remus, even if it had only been once. It wasn't going to be something Regulus would drop, not now that he knew Sirius was with Remus.

Sirius moved away from the door, stripping as he went into his bedroom and started to pull out clothes. His thoughts were a mess of regret and need. Regret for hurting Remus and a fervent need for him. He couldn't ditch the other man – Sirius stumbled into his bedpost at the thought of leaving Remus just because he happened to have slept with his brother. No, he couldn't do that. He had to grow up and apologise to Remus. Whilst making sure they never saw his bitch of a brother again, though.

Yanking on a pair of jeans, Sirius sorted through his wardrobe and was growing more and more distressed when he found nothing he wanted to wear. He was getting wound up and he knew it, so he paused for a moment and took a deep breath before pulling a Guns N' Roses t-shirt over his head and his leather jacket over the top. His other one had been his favourite, but going by Remus' reaction to this one, it seemed his favouritism had shifted somewhat.

With an agitated sigh, he shoved his boots back on and exited his apartment, locking the door after dropping his keys twice before succeeding. Nerves wracked through him as he walked down and outside – he had hurt Remus, essentially because of his past. Would the other man end it because Sirius' brother issues were too much? God, he couldn't cope with that. He pushed the door to the parlour open and stepped inside hesitantly, looking around the shop. No one seemed to be there, so he stepped back out and locked the door – something James was notoriously bad at forgetting to do – and moved a step to the side to unlock their flat door with the key he had received the moment James had bought the place.

"We're up here, Sirius!" Lily's voice called down to him. Sirius nodded to himself, swallowing as he closed the door behind him and made his way upstairs. The door to the flat was open and he could see James dabbing cotton wool on the side of Remus' neck as Lily showed him pictures of her latest ultrasound. Sirius went to sit on the arm of Remus' chair and watched James finish what he was doing.

"There." The bespectacled man grinned, "Sirius would have squirmed like a girl in your position."

"Would not!" Sirius cried, insulted. Remus turned to him with an amused smile and twinkling eyes. Sirius rubbed the back of his neck uncomfortably and laid his other hand on Remus' shoulder, "I'm so sorry, Rem…I don't know what the hell came over me."

"It's fine." Remus said gently, getting to his feet and coming to stand between Sirius' legs. He turned his head, showing Sirius the three angry red lines across the tattoo there, before lifting Sirius' hand and fitting his fingers along the marks. Sirius watched Remus' eyes widen slightly at the pain, but then his eyelids dropped as he smiled again. The relief in Sirius' heart was indescribable as Remus bent to kiss him briefly.

"Thanks." Sirius mumbled sheepishly, lowering his fingers from Remus' neck and gripping the new, soft wool of his lover's red jumped – and with a jolt, he realised why he had been so stressed over his clothes. Without thinking too much about what he was doing – something he was wont to do – Sirius suddenly lifted the hem of Remus' jumper and pulled it off the surprised man. Not wanting to leave Remus standing in only his jeans, he quickly pulled his jacket and t-shirt off, proceeding to dress the other man in them and pulling on the red jumper himself.

"Mmm." He hummed contentedly, lifting the long sleeves to his face and inhaling Remus' scent that had already embedded itself into the wool. The laughs of his friends startled him into looking up and grin at the surprised faces. "I like Rem's jumpers. They're comfy."

"God, you're such a girl." James sniggered. Sirius ignored him, watching Remus zip his leather jacket up and understanding completely why his lover had like it so much. Remus flexed his torso a little, testing the fit, making Sirius salivate at the sight of his lithe muscles moving under the tight leather.

"I like it." Remus smirked, chucking Sirius under the chin, "Nice and easy to take off."

"Okay." James rolled his eyes with a snort, "Sirius is a girl and Remus is sleazy. I'm so proud to call you my friends." He wiped an imaginary tear from under his eye and slung an arm over each of their shoulders. Lily put her hand over her heart and smiled.

"My boys." She said, sounding emotional. Sirius was bewildered as to why she should be when they were only joking around, but his puzzlement was short-lived when she deliberately put a hand over the small swell of her belly. Instantly, Sirius was on his feet, joining Remus in a careful, but enthusiastic hug.

"It's a boy!" Sirius cried in excitement, pulling away from the laughing redhead to clap James on the shoulder and ruffled his already ruffled hair in congratulations, "I'm gonna be an uncle!"

"You were going to be an uncle whether it was a girl _or_ a boy, Sirius." Remus chuckled, "Congrats, Lils. I'm sure you're looking forward to James teaching your son how to pull girls."

"If we get in before Jamie, maybe we can teach him how to pull _boys_." Sirius stage-whispered in Remus' ear with an exaggerated wink. James hit him upside the head and laughed. "So, you've got the day off. How're we celebrating another Jamie boy in the family?"

"Bowling!" Lily said suddenly, smiling brightly up at the three men. They looked back in surprise; bowling was hardly their thing, but they seemed to agree at the same moment that it sounded like a perfect idea. For a moment, Sirius was able to look around the room and conclude that he had it pretty good – until his phone rang from the leather jacket Remus was wearing.

"Hello?" Sirius asked quickly without checking the caller ID – Remus had taken too long unzipping the pocket for him to waste time with reading the display. Sirius' smile disappeared and his good mood evaporated at the sound of his brother's bleak tones coming down the line.

"She said she's coming to get you, Sirius. If you don't come willingly, she's coming for you."

Sirius hit the end call button on the screen quickly, staring down at the phone in his hand. Looking up to see his friends' concerned faces, Sirius opened his mouth to speak. No sound came out. He tried again.

"It was Regulus. He said mother's coming for me."

His friends had mixed reactions: Remus was confused, but concerned by Sirius' expression; Lily was frowning, but looked mainly frustrated as she had never been told in full about Sirius' family; James' face was a mask of disgust at the thought of Sirius' mother coming anywhere near those he loved.

"You don't have to go with her, Sirius." Remus frowned laying a hand on his arm, "You can say no."

"I can't." Sirius breathed, looking at Remus as though for the first time. His lover was a sickly, near-impoverished man with a need for someone to love him. Walburga Black would break him in a moment to get Sirius to go back with her. Gripping Remus' hands in his own, he pulled him close. "Let's go bowling."

**A/N2: **Yeah, okay. Tell me if that was any good or not. I seriously don't know. Blame it on my lack of sleep caused by watching the horror film VCR. Seriously, most disturbing film I've ever watched… R&R and I do a drunken happy dance. Honestly, I drank so much, I swear I'm still hammered. No, I am not proud of myself – lumos out –


	11. Chapter 11

**Disclaimer: **Of course I don't make profit from this. Do you think I'd still be in college if I did?

**A/N:** Hello my pretties! We have reached fifty-one reviews – the most I've ever had on a fic! I love you guys so much, all of you for reviewing and giving your opinions on my work, all of you who have added this story or me to your alerts an everyone who has taken the time to read this.

"Bowling?" Remus asked flatly, stepping back to give Sirius a hard look, "What's going on? She's just your mother, she—"

"_Just_ _my_ _mother_." Sirius snorted dryly, rolling his eyes, "You have no idea, mate."

Remus, who didn't much like being treated like an ignorant child, bit his tongue from saying anything insensitive. After all, he didn't know Sirius' full situation with his family. So his mother was a controlling hag? That didn't mean she had a real say on what he did or didn't do, although _who_ he did or didn't do would have been more accurate.

"Mate, you need to speak to her." James cut in, grasping Sirius by the shoulder to turn him and look him in the eye, "The longer you run, the worse this is going to get."

"What do you know?" Sirius spat bitterly, the hostility in his tone surprising Remus, "Your family is perfect."

"Yes, and yours isn't." James said harshly, "Bit we can cry about that later. Right now, you've got someone who loves you and you're forgetting that what he's saying is right. She _can't_ direct your life, Sirius."

"She'll ruin everything." Sirius whispered, running a hand over his jaw, his eyes blank and staring as they lifted to meet Remus'. Remus held the gaze for as long as he good, but eventually he had to look away. "She'll ruin you."

Snapping his eye back up to his lover's grey ones, Remus scowled and grabbed Sirius by his own wool jumper, "This ridiculous overreaction had better not be because of my illness, Black," he snarled, "Just because I get ill now and again, doesn't mean I'm incapable of looking after myself. How do you think I've survived until now without you to protect me?"

Sirius said nothing, but his eyes shone with guilt. Remus shoved him back and turned away. "Fuck you." He snapped, making his way to the door. Being as he was fully intending to leave, Remus was surprised when a hand on his arm stopped him. Sirius' arms snaked around his waist hesitantly.

"Sorry." The other man murmured into Remus' neck, "I'm not…I just…I've never met anyone with- with—"

"You can say disease, Sirius. I'm not contagious." Remus muttered in bad humour.

"I've never met anyone with a chronic disease," Sirius went on his voice strengthening, "So it's going to take some getting used to when you won't let me look after you, so just give me time, yeah? What you told me about…what you've been through, I don't want you to get hurt again. Especially if I can stop it."

Remus turned to look at him, but held onto Sirius' hands, "You're not going all rom com on me, are you? No plans to leave in order to save me, okay?" Sirius nodded. "Good. I'm a big boy, you know, I can look after myself."

"Right." Sirius nodded sheepishly. He looked at James and Lily over his shoulder, but James waved a hand and Lily smiled.

"Don't apologise, mate." James chuckled, "There's enough of that going around already."

"Can we go bowling, now?" Lily asked, shrugging when the three men looked at her in exasperation.

-BREAK-

Sirius sat on the ledge above the seating area for their pair of bowling alleys. He was busy watching Remus bowl against James. His best friend had always been awful as bowling and Remus seemed to have quite the natural talent for the sport, which was making it even harder on James.

"Enjoying your husband being beaten?" Sirius teased Lily, who was sitting on the bench at his feet, "Not every day you see a totally gorgeous guy rock at bowing, is it? They're usually fat, right?"

"You seem to be in a better mood." Lily chuckled, looking up at Sirius.

"Yes, well, I feel bad for hurting him," Sirius murmured lifting a hand to touch his own neck unconsciously, "And I…I think I have to leave, Lils."

"_What_?" Lily shrieked, getting to her feet. Sirius glanced at the other two men and shushed her hastily, standing up to usher her back to her seat. "What the fucking hell do you think you're saying, Black? If this is about your mother, then—"

"Of course it's about her." Sirius sighed, running a hand through his hair as he sank down onto the bench beside her and watched Remus offer James a high five and then take back his hand with a cackle, "Her hobby is making other people's lives miserable. The things she could do to Remus…"

"Don't leave him or do something equally stupid." Lily advised sternly, "I can't guarantee that I'll be able to stop James from kicking your sorry arse. I wouldn't try, either."

"I know you wouldn't." Sirius grumbled, "You'd bloody join in."

"I'm glad we understand each other." Lily grinned, making Sirius laugh, "Looks like we're up. Come on, Siri, watch a pregnant woman beat you into the ground."

"We are talking about bowling, right?" Sirius asked, acting nervous as Lily got to her feet and went to select a ball, "And don't call me that!"

Lily winked over her shoulder as she lined herself up with the alley, narrowing her eyes at the pins at the other end. James watched from a distance, transfixed. Sirius thought it was sweet that his best friend was still so in love with his wife after being together since school. He wondered, as he ran his fingers over the smooth surfaces of the bowling balls, whether he and Remus would be able to last as long.

"You need to stop that." Remus breathed against his neck, making Sirius jump as he came up behind him, "I can practically hear you worrying from the bench. We'll go and see Reggie after the next game and get this sorted out properly, okay?"

Sirius turned, a shiny green ball in his hands and a scowl donning his face. "You called him Reggie."

Remus rolled his eyes and stepped even closer, forcing Sirius to look him in the eye. The other man smelt sweet when he was that close and the way he looked in that leather jacket was starting to make Sirius sweat despite the sudden seriousness of their conversation. The way Remus' hand was discretely disappearing under his jumper wasn't helping, either.

"You need to understand that your brother and I were close friends in school, Sirius." Remus murmured leaning in to brush his lips against Sirius' earlobe, "Old habits die hard, so I'm not going to make any more promises concerning Regulus. Apart from the fact that I promise not to touch him, or let him…_fuck_ me," Sirius shivered as Remus purred against his neck, "That's your job."

A caress along his hip and then Remus' hand was gone along with the man himself. Sirius blinked hazily and looked over to where the other man was now sitting beside James on the bench. James was busy pretending that he hadn't witnessed the intimate scene between his two friends and Remus was sending him a slow smile and a lazy wink.

"You going to do anything but stand there drooling, Black?" Lily snickered, snapping Sirius out of his daze. Turning to the alley, ball in hand, Sirius silently cursed Remus for making him forget about his problems with his damned family. How could a man be so effortlessly seductive? He glanced over his shoulder and caught sight of the cuts on his lover's neck with an inward flinch. Right, he was so at ease with his sexuality because he had had so much practice – his body was a map of that past. Sirius was fine with it, he just wished his brother didn't have to be immortalised on his boyfriend's skin like some kind of brand.

With a little more vigour than he had meant to use, Sirius threw the ball down the alley, flinching when it hit the polished surface with a violent bang and watched it hit eight out of ten pins. Glancing up at the scoreboards, he grinned when he saw that he had gotten one more pin down than Lily and proceeded to knock down the two remaining with his next ball.

"Shot!" he crowed, pumping a fist in the air as he turned to gloat at James and Lily.

"No one likes a bad winner, Sirius." James grumbled, watching the scores being updated on the screens above the alleys.

"No one likes a bad loser, James." Sirus smirked, glancing around, "Where's Remus?"

"He went to get the next round of drinks in. We're taking a break for some lunch in a minute." Lily said, pointing towards a bar at one end of the hall. Sirus nodded and told them to put in an order for some fries when they went up to get some food as he left with the intention to help Remus carry the drinks back like the caring boyfriend he was. When he reached the bar, however, he was greeted by a scene that was quite unsavoury.

"Come on, babe," a muscly, bald-headed man was saying as he edged closer to Remus as they both waited for the bartender's attention, "I saw you with the pretty boy down there, I know you're into guys."

"No shit, Sherlock." Remus said sarcastically.

"Why don't you come and join me and my buddies?" the bald man offered, shifting even closer and giving Remus a leering grin, "Your pretty boy won't be able to look after a fine specimen like you, darling."

Having heard enough, Sirus stepped in and wrapped an arm around Remus' waist, placing himself between him and the bald man. Remus turned to him and gave a small smile before going back to waiting for the bar tender.

"Mate, do you mind? I was just about to prove to your boyfriend here that a real man would be able to show him what a good time really was."

Sirius turned aiming to give the bald guy a piece of his mind and maybe a split lip, but he paused when he realised that he recognised the man's face. The man smirked smugly as he watched Sirius trying to work out where he knew him from.

"Crabbe?" Sirius asked in disbelief, finally recognising one of the thugs his mother and father had employed to handle their dirty work. They had gone to the same school and Sirius was one hundred percent sure that the man was straight.

"Nice to see you again, Black. How was Paris?" Crabbe asked smugly. That was Sirius' limit. Releasing Remus with a quick kiss on the check, he grasped Crabbe by the arm and yanked him around to face him. Ignoring the surprised expression, Sirius swung his other fist, catching the bigger man on the cheek.

"Don't down to me." Sirius said, his voice sounding oddly calm even to himself, "You work under me, whether it's for my mother or not."

Crabbe recovered from his shock of being assaulted by the 'pretty boy' and straightened up, dropping his hand from the trickle of blood on his cheek as he glared at Sirius who was growing increasingly aware of their audience. Before the bartender could step in, Crabbe had swung his arm with a Neanderthal-like cry. Sirius ducked and stuck his leg out, watching the bigger man fall to his knees.

"I might advise my mother to cancel your pay checks." Sirius mused, tapping thoughtful finger on his chin mockingly, "You're hardly worth the money."

Before Crabbe could get up and attempt to cause any damage again, Sirius grabbed his head – that felt oddly similar to the bowling ball he had just held – and smashed his nose into his knee. Crabbe fell back with a cry, clutching at his face.

"Am I going to have to phone the police?" the barman called over the ruckus of their cheering audience. Sirius looked up, raising a cool eyebrow in a manner he had learnt from his father back when he had hero-worshipped him as a child. The bowling alley wasn't the best of places for any police to come to, thanks to its sources of cheap alcohol, so the sardonic expression was enough for the barman to shrug and put the phone down. Looking back down at Crabbe, Sirius knelt down to speak with him.

"Why don't we both talk about this like adults?" he suggested calmly, "You tell my mother and father that you dealt with me and you don't get taken care of in a similar manner by the other brutes you work with. Plus, you get a nice and juicy check out of it. Sound fair?"

Crabbe nodded and scrambled to his feet, turning tail and escaping from the bowling alley. Sirius watched him go, suddenly aware of his bleeding fist and shaking body after the adrenaline had run out. Closing his eyes momentarily, ignoring the claps on his back by people who were happy to see someone stand up to a bully, he concentrated on his breathing – but he didn't have much of a chance to get a hold of himself as a set of strong fingers wrapped around his wrist and pulled him away.

Remus had a determined expression plastered to his face as he dragged Sirius in what seemed to be the direction of the men's. Sirius groaned, wondering if he had blown it by showing Remus what a true Black he could be when provoked. His temper could get a hold of him at times and watching his boyfriend being propositioned by some creep was one of those situations.

"Get in." Remus demanded, shoving Sirius in front of him when they were inside the bathroom. It was empty, so Sirius stood in the middle of the room and turned to his lover, fully intending to apologise.

"I'm sorry," he said quickly, "I knew him, he was a guy who works for my mother. She sent him to fucking _break us up_—"

"Shut up." Remus snapped approaching quickly and shoving Sirius back against the mirror between the sinks and the cubicles. Sirius braced himself for a punch, but was pleasantly surprised by a pair of lips smashing against his own and a warm tongue invading his mouth. He moaned, grasping his leather jacket and pulling Remus's body flush on his. When they broke apart, both gasping for air, Remus gave a lopsided grin that made Sirius' cock twitch, "That was hot, the whole defending my honour thing."

"Funny how that applies to some stranger in a bowling alley and not my brother in your house." Sirius muttered darkly as Remus planted wet kisses along his jaw.

"Are we really going to talk about your brother, or do you want me to put _this_ to good use?" Remus sighed, pulling back to glare at Sirius and roll his hips forward simultaneously. The sensations won out over his annoyance and he groaned, pulling Remus in for another kiss.

"Are these," Remus whispered against his lips, running his hands up Sirius' chest beneath his jumper to brush his pierced nipples, "Still sore?"

"No. God, no." Sirius gasped, shivering as Remus tugged on one of the rings gently. The grin on his lover's face promised that something mind-blowing was about to take place. Sirius hoped it would be soon, or he would explode with want.

"We need to be quick." Remus chuckled against Sirius' neck, his fingers still working their magic under his jumper, "James will abandon Lily to see what the fight was all about and come looking for us soon."

"Then hurry the fuck up." Sirius growled, hitting his head against the mirror behind him when he tried to throw it back as Remus elicited a hiss of pleasure from him.

"What if I don't want to hurry?" Remus murmured, "I'm going to show you that you won't be able to live without me, so get any stupid ideas about leaving me to protect me, alright?"

"How are we supposed to take it slow in a public restroom?" Sirius asked with a short laugh. Remus didn't miss his deliberate avoidance of answering his second question and scowled, pushing him into a cubicle. Sirius turned, watching Remus follow him in and lock the door.

"Now you know why I picked this place to come bowling." Remus grinned wolfishly, stepping forwards to pull the red jumper over Sirius' head. His fingers traced over the two intertwined snakes on his upper right arm before trailing to a spot just above his navel as he leaned forwards and whispered words that shouldn't have been as seductive as they sounded, "Floor to ceiling doors."

**A/N2:** Aaaahh, fun times in the loo. How romantic. Right, so who wants a full lemon scene in the next fic about what they get up to in the cubicle? It will be dom!Remus and I have to warn you because some people don't like that (I know, crazy!), but if you guys have read any of my other stuff, you'll know I'm quite fond of a dominant Remus. So review and tell me what you want.

Ps. **New-Fanfictionaddict **has drawn my attention to the possibility that the title might not make much sense to you lot. It started out as an insider thing (with myself…yeah), because this was only going to be a oneshot. If you want, I'll explain it in my A/N in the next chap.


	12. Chapter 12

**Disclaimer:** The boys (and Lily) aren't mine. *Sob*

**A/N:** Wotcher yous. Forgive me for any stupid errors and feel free to comment and scream at me for them – I'm on a _lot_ of tramadol, so I won't know what you're on about anyway o.O Does this song ( www. youtube watch?v= 6uBK5kvakD8 ) sound oddly fitting for this story? I know it's a bit upbeat for some of the more angsty parts of the fic, but I think it's odd, just like Sirius and Remus. Come on, you can't say it doesn't give a lemon scene a bit of an amusing kick. Then again, I might just be so out of it I'm saying crazy things…

"Now you know why I picked this place to come bowling. Floor to ceiling doors." Remus whispered in Sirius' ear, feeling the other man shiver. With a wolfish grin, he dropped his jumper on the floor and captured Sirius' lips in a slow kiss, his fingers trailing from the tattoo on Sirius' arm back over to his chest. Sirius' breath hitched when Remus let his nails drag close to a nipple. _Interesting_, Remus thought, baring his teeth in a hungry grin Sirius didn't see due to his eyes being close. He had never been with anyone with pierced nipples before, but he had heard that they were supposed to feel quiet pleasurable.

"Don't fucking tease." Sirius growled, opening his eyes to glare at Remus, who laughed quietly – they were in a public restroom, after all – and circled a finger around each of Sirius' hardened nipples. Sirius looked as though he was ready to snap and push Remus into the wall of the cubicle instead, so he was put out of his misery. Taking each ring between his nails, Remus tugged gently. "Oh, shit." Sirius breathed, screwing his eyes shut and hitting the back of his head on the cubicle wall.

"How does it feel?" Remus asked releasing the rings and pressing his body against his lovers. Sirius only growled, unhappy that Remus was teasing him again. Remus grazed his teeth along the shell of the other man's ear, eliciting a hushed moan. "How does it feel, Sirius?"

"Fine." Sirius snapped, "It feels fine."

"You don't like having your control taken away, do you?" Remus asked with a soft chuckle, shifting his body against Sirius so the zip on the leather jacket brushed his nipples. He was rewarded by a whimper. "I'm afraid you're going to have to put up with it for a little while, though."

"If I knew you got your jollies from cornering blokes by a toilet, I would have thought twice about getting with you." Sirius said in a would-be-casual voice if Remus hadn't ground his hips forward at that moment.

"We had our first kiss in a bathroom." Remus reminded him, pulling back to lift an amused eyebrow. Sirius stuck his tongue out, which seemed like a fine invitation for Remus to suck it into his mouth and proceed to kiss him until he had to break away for breath. "Don't knock toilets. They're sexy stuff."

Sirius snorted with laughter and Remus, happy to have caused such a sound. They froze, however, when they heard the door to the bathroom open and someone walk in. The door gave them privacy, yes, but it didn't stop sound from travelling through the cheap wood. Remus looked at Sirius with a smirk as they heard the cubicle door beside theirs close and lock. Sirius tried to communicate with him through his eyes, widening them and shaking his head quickly. Pointedly ignoring him, Remus kissed him quickly before moving to place a trail of open mouthed kissed to his jaw and down his neck. He paused on Sirius' collarbone and looked up to see Sirius' eyes tightly closed, his lips pressed together resolutely.

Supressing a grin, Remus concentrated his attention on Sirius' nipples again, closing his lips over ones of the pink buds and sucking the ring into his mouth gently. When he only managed to draw a shallow gasp from the other man, he sucked harder. Sirius groaned deeply in the back of his throat and Remus felt it vibrate in his chest against his lips.

"Sirius?"

Sirius tensed under Remus' administrations as they heard James' voice. Remus straightened up and waggled his eyebrows at his lover, who scowled and promptly flipped him the bird. They waited with baited breath for James to give up and leave.

"Sorry mate, thought my friend was in here." James' voice sounded from the cubicle over again. It was only when James had left did Sirius let out his pent up breath and smack Remus on the arm.

"You twat." he sighed, ruffling his hair nervously.

"I thought you were the adventurous one here?" Remus chuckled, lifting his eyebrows and leaning back against the other side of the cubicle. Sirius, despite his complaints of their location, frowned at the loss of contact. Remus folded his arms, the leather jacket creaking with the movement. He may have looked cool and collected on the outside, but on the inside he was quivering with joy that he was able to stimulate such reactions from the other man. He watched as Sirius' eyes travelled down his body, over the tight jacket to what must have been a pretty obvious bulge in his jeans.

Remus' eyes widened a fraction when Sirius lifted a hand to his mouth and sucked a long finger into his mouth. The finger was pulled out, glistening with saliva, and dragged down to circle a nipple teasingly. Remus swallowed when Sirus fondled the ring and hissed at the sensations he was provoking in himself. The finger travelled on, across the plains of Sirius' stomach and below his navel, leaving a wet trail as it went.

"Say that again." Sirius dared him, glancing down at Remus' crotch before opening his trousers. Remus stepped forwards, catching Sirius' wrist before he could go any further. He met those steely grey eyes, but found he had nothing left to say and dropped to his knees quickly, yanking Sirius' jeans down to his ankles.

-BREAK-

"Crap, Rem, warn a man." Sirius said when he stumbled at the suddenness of Remus' action. Remus only looked up at him and dropped an eyelid into a sultry wink, making his heart go a mile a minute. He wanted – needed – Remus to hurry up with it, for God's sake. He wasn't good at sitting back on his haunches and letting someone else do all the work. He was too impatient and Remus' brutally teasing ways was driving him crazy. _Which is probably his aim,_ Sirius thought dryly as he watched Remus hook his thumbs under the elastic of his underwear and proceed to pull them down so slowly, he was sure he would come before anything had even happened.

Finally, Remus pushed his boxers down with his jeans and made up for all the teasing when he took Sirius' cock all the way into his mouth without any preamble. Sirius hummed, closing his eyes as the wet warm closed around him. Remus took it slowly at first, his fingers fondling Sirius' balls and stroking his perineum, making him moan and mutter nonsensical praise to the man on his knees. Then Remus sped up, bobbing his head up and down the shaft of Sirius' throbbing cock, hollowing his cheeks to make the act look ever lewder than it was. Sirius' cry was muffled by his arm, which he had pressed firmly against him mouth. He was close, but he wanted more, he didn't want it to end yet. As though he had read Sirius' mind, Remus gave one last suck and released him with a vulgar pop.

"Turn around." Remus ordered, his voice low and husky, sending a pleasant shiver down Sirius' spine and curling around to pool behind his navel. Perhaps he should look into doing the submissive and dominant thing more thoroughly. Sirius obeyed, turning around and suddenly feeling vulnerable with his bare arse facing Remus.

Remus leaned into his body from behind, pressing him against the wall, eliciting a gasp from Sirius when his cock rubbed against the cold surface and his piercings were tugged lightly. Remus' erection pressed against his arse and it felt as though hands were everywhere at once, snaking around to flick his almost painfully sensitive nipples, trailing barely-there paths across every part of his skin, dipping fingers into his mouth in the most sensual way. Sirius had been the bottom before, but it had never been good. He supposed that it was a brilliant sign that this relationship would be – for want of a better word – _magnificent_, because Remus was turning out to be a bloody good shag.

So good, in fact, that he didn't feel much pain when Remus pushed a finger – slick from sirius' mouth – into his arse. It burnt a little at first, but Remus showed that he knew exactly what he was doing by quickly-

"Oh shit, oh _fuck_," Sirius gasped, as Remus did something _magical_ with that wizard's finger and the pain melded into pleasure. He bucked his hips inadvertently when Remus did it again and was rewarded with another finger. Remus chuckled, his breath tickling Sirius' neck as he squirmed and pushed back, his body silently begging for more. Another finger was pushed into him, twisting and scissoring with the other fingers and brushing against that spot that made him-

"Remus, if you don't fuck me right now, we're over." Sirius growled, throwing Remus a Look over his shoulder. Remus laughed again and pulled his fingers out. Sirius was disheartened by the sudden feeling of emptiness, forgetting his demand in his need, but he wasn't disappointed for long. The sound of a zip being pulled down, the quite rustle of fabric and a muted curse as Remus most likely hit his knee on the rim of the toilet and then he was pushing his cock inside Sirius slowly, maddeningly slowly. It didn't take long until he was in up to the hilt and panting to hold on.

"God," Remus breathed, leaning against Sirius until he was pressed against the wall again, "God, Sirus…so fucking tight."

"Remus." Sirius gasped, caught in the midst of a perfect balance of pain and pleasure with Remus' cock filling him up, warm, throbbing and so bloody _good_. The desperate whisper was all Remus needed, because in the next moment he was pulling out _slowsoslow_ until Sirius felt unbearably empty, with only the head of Remus' cock just inside his entrance – and then he was thrusting, the movements fast, hard and so meticulously practiced it _drove Sirius mad_.

"Rem…good…gonna come," Sirius moaned, throwing his head back against Remus' shoulder as he pulled the other man's face against him neck, laying his own hand over the wounds he had made on Remus'. His lover hummed wordlessly, kissing his neck repeatedly, his thrusts growing erratic as his arms wound around Sirius, hitting his sweet spot every _fucking_ time.

The door to the restroom opened again and both men froze, listening intently. The footsteps stopped and a voice called Sirius and Remus' names uncertainly. It was at that moment in which Sirius hated everything about his best friend, from his stupid glasses to his stupid shoes. He was so deliciously full and Remus' hands were all over him and he was _closesoclose_ and he chose _now_ to walk in and interrupt them.

"_Oh_," Sirius gasped unintentionally as Remus made it perfectly clear that he would not stop without getting what he had come for by quickly thrusting back into him. James called out again, this time suspiciously, but both men ignored him, intent on the way Remus' cock was causing such perfect friction inside Sirius- and then a rough hand was wrapping around his weeping cock and he saw stars. Sirius' orgasm was white hot, setting his whole body ablaze as he shuddered and came over Remus' hand and the cubicle wall with a keen muffled by the back of his hand. He vaguely felt Remus give one, two, three more urgent pushes before he bit down into Sirus' shoulder to smother his cries.

They stayed still for a moment, only distantly aware of James on the other side of the door, telling them that he knew one of them was in there and to stop hiding for whatever reason. Remus placed a kiss on the spot where he had bitten Sirius and pulled out slowly. Sirius groaned at the feeling of oversensitive muscles being stimulated again, but then Remus was spinning him around and kissing him as though it was their first and last time all at once and he realised that it was a kiss born from a fear of Sirius leaving. He didn't get a chance to ask, however, as Remus promptly pulled a wad of toilet paper from the roll and cleaned his hand off, buttoned his jeans back up and left the cubical after slapping him on the arse. Sirius was not ashamed to say that he let out a rather unmanly yelp at the sharp contact, as he was proud to say that Remus had shagged him so thoroughly he probably wouldn't be able to sit down for days.

Why would he leave someone like that?

-BREAK-

Remus opened the door to go wash his hands, closing it behind him carefully. James smiled in relief when he saw him and went to the basins with him, watching him soaping his hands up.

"There you are! There was a fight at the bar and I was worried that you two were involved." James said in exasperation, "I came in here before and you weren't here, but I thought I heard…never mind. Where's Sirius?"

"He's cleaning himself up." Remus said with an innocent smile as he went to pull a paper towel from the dispenser to dry his hands. James' brow furrowed and he looked as though he was going to ask another question, but whatever it was was made redundant as the toilet flushed from inside the cubicle from which Remus had emerged and Sirius appeared, very much half-naked and carrying the red jumper. James' eyes widened until they resembled saucers as he watched Sirius went to the sinks as well, casually throwing Remus' jumper back on over his head. Remus leaned over to place a sloppy kiss on Sirius' neck, ignoring James' disbelieving groan as he realised what he was missing.

"You two didn't- did you two…? You _shagged_ in the loo?"

"It was a romantic thing." Sirius shrugged, turning to throw a wink in Remus' direction, "After all, we had our very first kiss in a loo."

**A/N2:** Jeez, did you guys know I had this at a T rating? Good grief… Also, has anyone noticed how I'm developing a thing for writing the boys having sex in weird places? Anyone who just read the third chapter for My Pole Position would know. Behind a giant with your best mate and your partner's girlfriend on the other side, anyone? No? How about right next to a frigging toilet, then? Right. Anyway. This chapter ended up just being smut. Happy, or nay? I can't tell if I'm good at these scenes, so a review would help me out! R&R!


	13. Chapter 13

**Disclaimer:** Not mine, no profit being made et cetera, et cetera…

**A/N:** Whoop! 60 reviews! ^(^ - ^)^ You guys are awesome for showing so much love for a story I didn't actually mean to carry on past two or three chapters. (^-^) *hugs!* (^-^)

**Beta: **agentrock – again, thank you!

**Also Featuring: **the introduction of _actual_ line breaks, due to agentrock's advice. Drum roll, please!

"Did you guys see the fight at the bar?" James asked as they exited the restroom and started back towards their lanes where Lily was waiting. "Lils wouldn't let me check it out."

"Whipped," Sirius sniggered, nudging Remus who lifted his eyebrows noncommittally.

"She didn't want me to get hurt!" James huffed indignantly. "It's romantic."

"I thought it was hot," Remus commented offhandedly. Sirius muttered something along the lines of "Evidently" and James's eyes widened comically at his friends before narrowing them suspiciously.

"Were you two fighting?" he demanded as they reached Lily – who got to her feet quickly and came over with worried eyes.

"No, no," Sirius said, shaking his head and waving a hand dismissively. James and Lily relaxed until he added: "Just me."

"What? Why?" Lily asked, looking over him and finding no scratches or bruises apart from the purple bruising already under his right eye. "What did you do this time, Sirius?"

"I- nothing!"

"Some guy was hitting on me and Sirius stepped in," Remus grinned. "My knight in shining armour."

"Yeah and then they went and celebrated with a victory shag in a toilet cubicle," James added dryly. Lily instantly went into her disapproving mode, her brows drawing down and her fingers twitching as though she wanted to strangle someone. Spotting the signs, Remus grabbed Sirius by the arm and cheerfully announced that it was his time to bowl and that the food would be coming any minute now. They continued to bowl for a few minutes before sitting down to eat greasy chips and soggy chicken nuggets, happily discussing their game over three plastic cups of beer and a carton of orange juice. Remus couldn't help but sneak glances across at Sirius, feeling as though the other man still wasn't the same despite their eventful trip to the bathroom.

Sirius was debating leaving him – Remus could see it in his eyes and in his too-tight grip on his hand that forced them both to eat with one hand. He had seen it the moment Sirius had clocked that bloke at the bar and proceeded to beat the shit out of him. Stupidly, he had taken Sirius into the loo and proceeded to shag him into tomorrow under the assumption that he wouldn't leave if he showed him a good time. Sex didn't solve everything, though, and it was about time Remus learned that, although it would have been preferable if his 'lesson' hadn't been through his boyfriend.

In that moment – as Sirius wedged two chips between his upper lip and his gums in order to pretend to be a vampire and 'bite' Lily, and as James tried unsuccessfully to flag down someone to bring them more drinks – Remus decided that he was going to take matters into his own hands, before the only good thing he had going could suddenly disappear into the night and never come back for him.

"I need to make a call," he announced, getting to his feet and smiling distractedly at his friends. They all looked up in surprise, nodding dumbly at his sudden statement. Sirius's smile was small and slightly out of focus, so Remus leaned down and gave him a kiss he certainly wouldn't forget for quite some time. "Don't go anywhere," he warned the other man. Sirius's smile widened accordingly and he nodded obediently.

"Wouldn't dream of it," Sirius scoffed, patting Remus's cheek with a lopsided grin.

When he was outside in the brisk, wintry air, Remus pulled his mobile from his pocket and pulled up a number in his phonebook that he hadn't used in years. He shifted his weight from one foot to the other as he listened to the dialling tone impatiently, checking over his shoulder every now and then to make sure Sirius hadn't followed him out.

"Remus, I didn't realise you had kept my number all this time," a voice on the other end of the line answered, its tone amused and slightly surprised.

"Save it, Reggie," Remus said, not unkindly. "Are you in your hotel room at the moment?"

"I'm heading back now. Just going in, actually. Planning a visit with the dear brother, are we?"

Remus ignored the bitter undertone and answered with an exasperated sigh, "No. I'm coming alone so be there, alright?"

"I'll be counting the minutes."

Hanging up, Remus closed his eyes for a moment, convincing himself that he wasn't doing anything to betray Sirius even though the other man wouldn't like what he was planning to do one bit. Heaving a heavy sigh, he turned and headed back inside to find the others.

"There you are!" Sirius grinned, catching Remus around the waist as he approached. "I just got a strike and you missed it, Rem!"

"Maybe next time." Remus smiled, "Look, I've got to go, Sirius."

"Wha—"

"I've got some business to attend to," Remus interrupted, checking his watch. One pm. His parents would still be at work; he had time. "I'll be back tonight sometime. It's a surprise," he assured the other man when he showed signs of throwing a tantrum. "I'm not involved in any sordid affairs, so just leave it and I'll tell you later, 'kay?"

Sirius nodded, still frowning, but let him go. Remus felt his eyes on his back as he left the building again. It wasn't far to Regulus's hotel – only a couple of buses which took him back to his neighbourhood and to the other side and then a ten minute walk. He had to pop a couple of painkillers and swallow them dry, but Remus didn't care about his niggling joints in his desire to see Regulus.

The hotel was, in keeping with a politician's lifestyle, luxurious. Remus remembered coming to hotels like this in the country and abroad when he was younger and before he had fallen ill, so he wasn't surprised when the woman behind the desk gave him a judgemental once-over as he went to the check-in desk. Remus simply lifted an eyebrow in a manner that clearly told her to back off and show some respect – a look he had been taught by his father – despite his faded jeans and tight leather jacket. The stupid bint obviously didn't know who he was. Not surprising, really, seeing as he had become a publicity recluse.

"Good afternoon, sir. Are you checking in?" the woman asked, lowering his eyes quickly when Remus's gaze refused to waver.

"God no," Remus snorted derisively. "I need to know where Regulus Black is."

"I'm sorry, sir, but I'm not permitted to tell you such information about a guest," the woman simpered, looking back up at Remus and giving him a smile that was less apologetic than it was pleased. Remus had a feeling that this woman didn't like him very much. At least the feeling was reciprocated.

"You can wipe that smirk off your face. This isn't a soap opera," Remus snapped, checking his watch as he grew impatient. He didn't have long if he wanted to stick to his schedule. The woman behind the voice frowned and turned marginally as though to call for help with her troublesome customer. Remus laid a hand on the counter and added, "So you can call Mr Black's room and tell him that Remus Lupin is here to see him."

Instantly, the woman's demeanour changed. She stood straighter as her hands went to the chiffon tie around her neck and plastered a wide smile across her face. Remus didn't miss the worry in her eyes, though, as she picked up the phone and started to dial with a lengthy apology spilling from between her painted lips. His name often opened doors for him, despite the fact that he hadn't been in contact with his family in years.

"I'm so sorry, Mr Lupin, I didn't recognise you. Let me ring Mr Black immediately. Can I offer you anything to drink or eat?"

Remus shook his head and gestured for her to get on with it. She nodded, flustered. Moments later, he was stepping into the elevator with the room number '408' in his head and an elevator pass in his hand. When he reached the room, he only had to wait a second after knocking for Regulus to open the door.

"Come in," the youngest Black brother offered, stepping aside. Remus entered the room, looking around the clothes hung up inside the open wardrobe, at the coats hung up on the back of the door and at the two empty suitcases that stood beside the window. It looked as though Regulus was there to stay for a while. "Does Sirius know you're here?"

"No."

Regulus nodded, his eyes glinting. Remus went to sit on the wide windowsill and watched as the other man walked around the room for a while, tidying up clothes and crumpling up towels to throw them into the bathroom.

"Why are you here?" Regulus asked eventually, shrugging his blazer off and sitting on the edge of the bed. "I'd make some crude suggestions, but it's no fun when my dear brother isn't here."

"Of course not," Remus said dryly, folding his arms. "I've come here for two things, Regulus. The first is that I don't want to see your sorry face anywhere near me, Sirius, or anyone else I love everagain."

"I'm quaking in my boots," Regulus muttered, rolling his eyes. Having been at the end of his tether before he had even gotten to the room, Remus was quick to spring to his feet and had Regulus pressed to the bed with a tense hand around his neck and a knee dangerously close to his crotch. Regulus panted in surprise as he stared up at Remus.

"Living in a rough area has taught me how to look after myself," Remus said in a voice he would have preferred to be calmer than it was, tightening his grip. "I'm not the sick kid in school anymore, Reggie, I know how to use my fists."

"Fine, fine," Regulus choked, his fingers scrabbling at Remus's hand around his neck. Remus waited for a long moment before nodding and releasing him, getting to his feet again. He watched Regulus cough and touch his neck gingerly. "That's going to bruise. I have a meeting in two hours," he rasped.

"Stop being such a prick and I'll consider not bruising your neck for your future meetings," Remus snapped, rubbing at his own neck unconsciously. Regulus followed the gesture curiously.

"What's that?" he asked, struggling to his feet and reaching out. He retracted his hand at the last moment when he caught sight of Remus's expression, but continued to stare at the angry red scratches across his tattoo. "Sirius did that, didn't he?"

"Yes," Remus answered.

"He hurt you," Regulus frowned.

"No."

Remus enjoyed the confusion on Regulus's sharp Black features, but also felt sad that his old friend would probably never understand the kind of relationship that was quickly flourishing between him and Sirius.

"So," Regulus sighed, sitting back down and touching his neck gingerly with another cough, "First thing, stay away from you. Got it. Do I want to know what the second thing is, or is it going to result in broken bones?"

"I need you to tell me something about your family," Remus said bluntly, unzipping Sirius's jacket in the comfortable heat of the hotel room and pushing his hair from his eyes to look Regulus in the eye. "The scandal that you lot managed to cover up a few years ago, I want it. I want to know all about it and I want to ruin them."

There was only silence for a long while and Remus wondered if he would get what he wanted, then Regulus spoke up, "God, Remus. I'd prefer you to actually break my arm, now. You do realise I can't do that? My mother would have my skin for a new rug."

"You can't tell me you're enjoying acting like them," Remus said gently. "The Reggie I went to school with wasn't like that. He was kind and generous. He wanted to be a vet. What happened, Reggie?"

Regulus sighed heavily, wiping a tired hand across his face. He looked up at Remus and shrugged, "My mother and father have a strong influence, Remus, over me and over Sirius, too. Has he been thinking about going back already? Is that why you're here without him?"

"He hasn't said anything, but I think he has, yes," Remus answered stiffly. "You need to help me, Reggie. Help me free Sirius and you could see that you can do it for yourself. I know how it feels to be tied to a powerful family, how is to feel obligated to do whatever is needed of you."

"It's not that easy," Regulus said coolly. "They're…they're still my family."

Remus kneeled down in front of Regulus and laid a hand on his knee gently. "So is Sirius."

* * *

A few hours later, Remus could be found lounging in a supple leather chair in a rich, wood panelled study. He was dressed in a grey Canali suit with a softer grey shirt with a white collar and a black tie. His hair was smoothed back and, to complete the unusually sharp and business-like look, there was a Coronation cigar between his lips. He heard the door open and crossed his legs, resting an ankle on the other knee as he listened to the pair of footsteps and voices nearing.

The door opened at the exact time when Remus had predicted it would – routine in this place hadn't changed since he had last been there, apparently. The two figures in the door froze, both staring at him in surprise. Remus blew out a cloud of the woody, spicy smoke and smiled in greeting.

"Evening mother, father. We have some business to discuss, I believe."

**A/N2:** I know it might look as though Remus is about to go all mafia on the Black's arses, but don't worry – he won't. This isn't a political story, so I'm not going to go into major detail about what goes on with the whole Black-Lupin thing, but it will be in there next time. Review and get more hard-ass Remus and Sirius...yum.


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